Alert News No. 002-03
20 March 2003

Saudi Government to Issue Emergency Transit Visas to Ease Border Crossings for Nationals, Foreigners from Kuwait

Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Bahnarim Guinomla reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Saudi government has now decided to issue emergency transit visas to those who will cross its borders with Kuwait in case the war in Iraq worsens.

Ambassador Guinomla said the emergency transit visas shall be issued by the Saudi Embassy in Kuwait free of charge to foreign citizens and nationals provided that their passports are valid and genuine.

In case of inability of the Saudi Embassy in Kuwait to discharge its functions including the issuance of visas, foreigners will still be allowed to enter Saudi territory as long as they comply with the following conditions:

All foreign nationals will be granted visas at the border by concerned authorities without charge provided that their passports are valid and that their embassies provide a list of the names and passport nos. of their nationals who are expected to enter the Kingdom.

The Diplomatic Missions accredited in the Kingdom will provide means of transportation, meals, food and accommodation for their citizens. The embassies have to repatriate their nationals as soon as possible within a period not exceeding 15 days.

The embassies shall issue travel document to their nationals who have lost their passports.

Diplomatic Missions accredited in the Kingdom shall dispatch two (2) representatives, accompanied by translators, to identify their nationals and issue the required travel documents to those who do not have their passports in their possession in order that the Saudi concerned authorities can issue the evacuees an emergency transit visa to enable the bearer to enter the Kingdom, and subsequently to their country of origin or whatever destination the bearer wants to go.

Concerned Missions shall make air reservations or other means of transportation to evacuate their nationals from the Kingdom.

Ambassador Guinomla said the decision of the Kingdom to grant emergency transit visas is welcome news that hopefully would help ally the anxiety of OFWs in Kuwait and their relatives in the Philippines.

" In the face of any serious threat of an attack from Iraq, our workers in Kuwait can move to Saudi Arabia using an emergency transit visa from the Saudi Embassy in Kuwait," Ambassador Guinomla said.

A report from the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, however, stressed that everything remains under control despite the outbreak of the war in Iraq.

Ambassador-designate Bayani Mangibin said the Philippine Embassy is in close touch with the Committee on Emergency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait. The Philippine Embassy has also moved more than a hundred OFWs out of the 350 distressed OFWs under the care of the Embassy’s Filipino Workers’ Resource Center (FWRC) to the agreed relocation site which they have dubbed as "Bahay Pinoy".

Embassy personnel have transferred ninety percent of the food, water, and medicine supplies of the Embassy Chancery to Bahay Pinoy.

Ambassador-designate Mangibin said the embassy was assured by the Saudi Embassy in Kuwait that OFWs can enter visa free the Saudi Arabian border in case of a clear and present danger to Kuwait.

Both Ambassadors Guinomla and Mangibin assured the public that the OFWs are all accounted for and in good hands. "They worry more about their relatives who may be in a state of panic because of the outbreak of war," Ambassador Mangibin said.