JOIN USThe Indian Embassy in Riyadh has warned its citizens not to overstay their visa in Saudi Arabia and leave the country immediately once they have obtained Emergency Certificates to avoid penal action over Nitaqat law.
“Anyone who overstays their visa in Saudi Arabia beyond the grace period will face penal action including jail sentence, penalty and deportation with a ban on re-entry,” the Embassy said.
“The Embassy again urges nationals to avoid such a situation by availing the ‘concessions’ announced by the Saudi authorities during the grace period which ends on July 3, 2013,” it added.
According to the Embassy, all those who have obtained ECs from the embassy will have their original passports cancelled.
“Anyone wanting to change their jobs (Tanazul) in Saudi Arabia could obtain new passports after following the necessary procedures,” said the statement. The embassy urged all Indians who have applied for ECs to collect them from Embassy.
Earlier, the Embassy had said that its officials would undertake EC verification and distribution tours to different parts of the country in order to reach out to Indian nationals staying in other cities.
Once the three-month grace period ends on July 3, all those expatriates who are found in Saudi Arabia without valid papers will be jailed and heavily penalised.
As of May 20, this year, 75,000 Indians have registered with the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate in Jeddah to be processed and be send back with ‘emergency certificate’. There are over two million Indians in Saudi Arabia.
According to official figures, off the total processed applications of 56,734, there are 21,331 people from Uttar Pradesh as against 3,610 from Kerala.