Embassy on Wheels in Al-Khobar Postponed
PRESS RELEASE NO. APV-49-2009
28 August 2009
All Filipino community organizations, private companies and households as well as public institutions employing Filipino workers and the rest of the OFWs in the Eastern, Qassim, Hail and other regions outside Riyadh are hereby informed that consular outreach services by the Philippine Embassy will be postponed indefinitely due to its tight fiscal situation.
After conducting eleven (11) missions in Al-Khobar, Jubail, Hofuf, Hail and Buraydah, as well as two (2) in Yemen from January 31 to August 14, 2009, the Embassy had been able to serve around ten thousand applicants for passport and notarial services.
Consequently, these took a heavy toll on the Embassy’s budget for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) for the current fiscal year prompting it to request additional funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs in order to continue its outreach program.
However, the Embassy has been told that such request cannot be given favorable consideration because of budgetary constraints.
Thus, the tentative or proposed schedule of the return of the “Embassy on Wheels” to Al-Khobar on September 3-4 and other areas within the Embassy’s consular jurisdiction for the remainder of the year will have to be cancelled.
Filipino workers and their employers in areas outside Riyadh are advised to make new arrangements for the renewal of their passports at the Embassy, which under the present MRP system requires the personal appearance of the applicant.
For queries and updates, the Embassy can be reached at email address filembry@sbm.net.sa and telephone nos. 01-4820507 (information desk); 01-4823816 (consular section); and 01-4823559 (duty officer outside office hours). END
