The ministry is specifically calling on people who hold Saudi national cards with an expiration date of 1433-1434 (2012-2013) to update their details. They also said that citizens could face problems if they do not meet the deadline to renew their cards.
Observers say the ministry’s decision aims to phase out all the old and expired photo cards and introduce newly designed cards, each of which contains a barcode printed with all important and relevant data about the cardholder. The data includes the holder’s fingerprints, optical scan, as well as his or her personal Haj record.
The Haj record enables the Haj Ministry to restrict the number of pilgrimages each citizen performs. Current rules stipulate that each citizen can perform Haj only once every five years.
Current holders of the old or expired Saudi national cards are given a turnaround period of up to three months for the renewal procedures to be completed. To obtain their new cards, applicants are asked to visit their local Civil Affairs offices.
The new card design introduced less than five years ago will allow Saudi holders to visit Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries without their passports. The ministry said the card itself would be difficult to forge or reproduce.
Jeddah resident Saleh, 40, told Arab News on Monday: “Last year while using an ATM machine to get some cash, my transaction was refused. Later on the same day I contacted my bank and was informed that I had to renew my expired Saudi nationality card. This was the first time a banker had informed me about my expired national card in my life. Eventually I went to the Civil Affairs office and got my card renewed.”
Civil Affairs is advising citizens to make an appointment online at the Ministry of Interior’s website (www.eservices.moi.gov.sa) to start processing the renewal of their cards.
According to a Civil Affairs employee in Jeddah, the new national card contains data of relevance to several public agencies as well as private sector organizations including banks.
“Now people with expired or old cards will be informed not just by Civil Affairs to renew their cards if they have expired, but also by these other public or private sector offices. The move is meant to ensure accurate and up-to-date information at all times.”
However, 26-year-old Faris Al-Issa said the new cards are not without their problems.
“I renewed my national identification card in 2008. Back then the photo on the card was in color. However, this year I had to renew my card yet again using a black and white photo,” he said.
“The colors on the photograph of my 2008 card had faded to the point that my face was hard to recognize. It was also difficult for banks to obtain a clear photocopy of my card.”
Similar incidents were reported about the first batch of the new national cards.
“I was also forced to renew my card using a black and white photo. This was despite the fact that it was only less than a few years ago that I had it renewed with a color photo and it hadn’t actually expired when I had to renew it again,” said Rayan Asa’ad, a 24-year-old Jeddah resident.
“The issues were resolved for cards with color photographs. However, we here at the Civil Affairs office are hoping people will comply with the deadline and get these expired and old cards renewed on time. The old card design will be discontinued, so to prevent any problems in the future people are urged to change their outdated cards,” said Abdullah Al-Mowald of the Jeddah Civil Affairs office.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Sultan Al-Tamimi
Quelle/Source: Arab News, 23.08.2011
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