Deportees get conflicting instructions
The Riyadh Tarheel Office (deportation center) has asked those wishing to be repatriated to go to the airport in five days to obtain an exit-only visa.
However, a reliable source told Arab News yesterday that there is no one to stamp the exit visa at the airport. “Indians, Indonesians and nationals of other countries are following the advice of Tarheel officers by going to the airport for exit stamping. Officers tell them to go back to the Tarheel Office after obtaining a boarding pass at the immigration counter,” he said.
“The immigration department is supposed to give clear instructions to deportees,” he said. On Friday, a Tarheel officer said: “We have given final-exit stamps to workers on their passport or emergency travel certificates. “Workers need not show they have an air ticket to get an exit stamp but have to ensure they leave by the end of the threemonth grace period.”
Muhammad Rasheed, a Bangladeshi, said: “I went to the airport as advised by deportation center authorities for a final-exit visa. I got my boarding pass and checked in my baggage. When I approached the immigration counter, the officer told me to go back to the deportation center.”
Many others have faced the same problem at King Khaled International Airport. They could not travel, their tickets were canceled and their baggage got lost.
Muhammad Riaz, an Indian national, told Arab News that his passport was stamped with an exit visa at the Tarheel Office, but an immigration officer at the airport told him that his information “is not available in our system.”
“I have encountered many difficulties in the Kingdom. I got money from my hometown to buy a ticket, but these officers who are supposed to follow the royal order are not helping,” he said. He alleged that immigration officers told him to pay SR 1,000.