Pakistan embassy now on WhatsApp in Oman

Madiha Asif madiha@timesofoman.com

MUSCAT: Pakistani citizens living across the Sultanate can now engage in two-way communication via WhatsApp with the Embassy of Pakistan based in Muscat.

The initiative was launched last year by the Former Ambassador of Pakistan to Oman, Ali Javed.

In the initiative, three WhatsApp numbers were introduced by the embassy to assist in solving queries and to addresses a variety of issues of Pakistani expats in the country.

According to the official spokesperson of the Pak embassy, the numbers cater to issues such as: deaths, accidents, to help deal with destitute citizens in need of help and those facing trouble at work, and it also helps deal with passports, national identity cards, birth certificates, attestations, transfers, among others.

“For immigration/jail matters, Pakistani citizens can get in touch via WhatsApp at 98577244; for MRP/passport they can contact at 98577644, and for welfare/labour issues they can reach the embassy at 98577355,” the spokesperson said.

The official from the embassy added that use of such services is intended to ease cumbersome bureaucratic procedures and therefore, Pakistani citizens should avail the service.

“The sole purpose of the mission is to facilitate its people through the introduction of such initiatives that doesn’t require them to travel to Muscat from far off areas in the Sultanate to resolve their issues or follow up on such matters,” the spokesperson said.

Initially, the embassy had launched an official WhatsApp broadcast that had gathered over 30,000 followers. However, this number was meant for broadcast only and not for queries. So, the embassy decided to launch three new numbers for queries last year to help facilitate the needs Pakistani citizens.

Embassy officials added that Pakistani expats who could not afford internet and smartphones could use the embassy’s text message service and send an SMS to the embassy’s number at 90941957.