Some 70,000 Nepalese in Saudi have no MRP

Saudi Arabia / November 24: A large number of Nepali people residing in Saudi Arabia are without the machine readable passports (MRP).

They have been found using handwritten passports. They would face different problems including getting visa and extending visa term after the handwritten passport would not be acceptable across the world from November 23 as per the provision of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Out of around 500,000 Nepalese in Saudi, some 70,000 Nepali people living there have no MRP, according to the Saudi-based Nepalese Embassy.

Acting Nepalese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ananda Prasad Sharma, said that altjough the Embassy had issued notice time and again to make MRP, a large number of Nepalese in Saudi have no MRP due to their indifference towards it.

A large number of Nepalese have now started visiting the Embassy to make MRP. Ambassador Sharma said that an arrangement would be made to issue permission letter to those impossible to make MRP and have an emergency to return back home. RSS