Bahrain residents call for resuming causeway passbooks to avoid frequent passport renewals

TDT | Manama                             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com  

Reported by Zahra Ayaz

Many residents in Bahrain, especially top executives, who frequently travel to Saudi Arabia are pleading with the authorities to have a separate document for stamping their entry and exit visas to avoid frequent renewals of their passports.

One of the top executives in the Automobile Industry said, “I hold a British passport with 52 pages. Unfortunately, the emigration officer stamped the entry visa on a new page, ignoring my request to stamp it on a used page.

“One of my friends who also faced a similar problem recently applied for a Schengen visa and was forced to renew his passport due to the shortage of a new page for stamping the Schengen visa.

“Most often, Saudi Emigration takes long hours to verify the documents. When they have all the information in their system, why do they take so much time to process a visa? Bahrain has a very efficient system, and the biometric system is very convenient, easy, and comfortable.

While speaking to another frequent traveller to Saudi Arabia, he said that I often meet a lady officer at emigration, and she is very supportive. She makes sure to stamp visas on the same page to save more space in my passport.

It depends on the officer in charge. If you get a nice person, they can help the travellers. It is always better if the authorities concerned can issue an additional document or a causeway passport exclusively for a Saudi trip.