Dubai, June 7: India will start mobile helpline counters in Saudi Arabia from June 8 to provide assistance to its citizens living in the Gulf Kingdom.
A team of Arabic-speaking officials and volunteers led by a diplomatic officer from the Embassy will station at the Shumeshi Tarheel and and Riyadh International Airport 24x7 to provide help, according to the Indian embassy in Riyadh.
This is in addition to the 24x7 helpline currently available at the Indian mission.
The Embassy said it has completed the verification of all EC (Emergency Certificate) applications directly submitted at the Chancery and collected through other collection centres till Thursday numbering over 50,000 applicants.
“By June 20, all ECs submitted at the Embassy will be distributed for which dates have been conveyed to the applicants. Starting June 8, new EC application collection and distribution counters will operate from 8.00 a.m. to 04.00 p.m., except on Fridays. There would be no public counters after 04.00 p.m. The last date of collection of new EC applications is June 20,” the Embassy said.
A meeting of the volunteers who submitted EC applications at the Embassy has been convened on June 7 to convey the mode of verification and delivery.
ECs are being issued free of cost. The Embassy of India has also opened special Tanazul services counter at the Embassy premises from to assist those Indian nationals eligible to change their jobs to new companies but unable to get their passports from their original sponsors.
This is to provide guidance on fulfilling the Tanazul requirements. The Embassy had earlier announced that all those who wish to obtain a passport for Tanazul should submit their passport applications under renewal category and will be issued new passports on a priority basis.
These applicants will be issued passports on a priority basis to complete the Tanazul process.
There are over two million Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia.
