Embassy on Wheels Schedule for January-April 2010
PRESS RELEASE No. APV-02-2010
23 January 2010
Pursuant to the directive given by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her last visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to resume the “Embassy on Wheels” (EOW) in Al-Khobar on a regular basis, the Embassy is announcing the following schedule of the EOW:
Date: Venue:
January 28-29 International Philippine School in Al-Khobar
March 4-5 International Philippine School in Al-Khobar
April 8-9 International Philippine School in Al-Khobar
“Setting the dates for the EOW takes several important factors into consideration, but we are coming up with an advance schedule as a practical guide for many OFWs stationed in distant locations in the Eastern Region who are anticipating its much needed services,” said Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor.
However, the Ambassador added that planning for the EOW further ahead would depend on developments in the issuance of the new e-Passport which is expected to be launched this year at a number of Philippine embassies and consulates, including the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.
The more technically advanced e-Passport, which the Department of Foreign Affairs has started issuing in Manila last August, will eventually replace the Machine Readable Passport (MRP). Preparations for the implementation of the e-Passport at selected Foreign Service Posts are already underway.
Standing Guidelines
As observed in previous EOWs, the outreach services which are held on a weekend will be open to the public from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Thursday and from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Friday, on a first-come, first-served basis. Moreover, only up to four hundred (400) MRP applications can be processed and encoded during the first day and two hundred (200) on the second day
Passport applicants who will come beyond the allotted number will be accommodated and allowed up to the payment of the required fees, but they will have to return for the next EOW to affix their thumb marks and signatures on the Computer Generated Forms.
Those who would like to claim their new MRPs during the EOW are advised to first look up their names in the list posted on the Embassy website to confirm the availability of their MRPs. They are also reminded that their old passports must be submitted for cancellation before their new MRPs can be released. END
