Jeddah, May 20: Indians are opting to have their babies born in the Kingdom rather than in India because of the long wait to get a passport issued for the newborns, as well as the risk of expiry of the mothers’ visa. The long queues in the passport offices back in India, described as exhausting for a woman who has recently given birth, constitutes another reason.
“Many Indians in the Kingdom are from Hyderabad, which has the most crowded passport office in India. The queue is very long, so it is much trouble for the mother to go and wait in line just to get a token to apply for the baby’s passport,” said Rehan Ismaeel, an Indian expatriate living in the Kingdom.
“Another problem is the time it takes to get the passport issued, which can be up to four months. During this time, starting when the mother goes to India for delivery until the passport is issued, her visa expires, which causes more trouble,” he noted.
“One of my friends sent his wife to India. She faced so much trouble, that he regrets his decision. That’s why I decided not to send my wife back to India for our baby.”
Another Indian, Sarfaraz Khan, told Arab News that about a year ago the queue in the passport office in Hyderabad was very long, but it is a little better presently.
“My friend told me a year ago that people coming from nearby villages were sleeping on the floor outside the passport office for two days, waiting for their turn,” he said.
On the other hand, men living here only with their wives and no other family members worry about leaving their wives at home alone before and after delivery, when they have to go out for work.
“Having your baby born in the Kingdom is much easier, but men who live here without family find it hard. Especially if it’s the first baby, they worry that there might be some complication and prefer their wife to be with the family which take care of her,” Khan explained.
The Indian government has a scheme, called Tatkaal, through which a passport can be issued within a week. But people applying must first be qualified for the scheme. Arab News was told that the queue to apply for Tatkaal in the Hyderabad passport office was very long.
E.M. Abdullah said he didn’t worry about the visa of the mother expiring before the baby’s passport was issued, as this was a matter of timing. However, he considered the rule that the mother herself must go to the passport office as difficult.
“I went to the passport office and had an argument with an official there, because he said the mother herself had to come. I told him that my wife gave birth yesterday, so how could she come? I showed him her original passport, but he declined, saying that these were the rules. After a long argument, he finally agreed and accepted my application,” Abdullah said.
An official in the passport department of the Indian Consulate in Jeddah told Arab News that with the regular fee, a passport could be issued within a week, and if the passport was needed urgently, the person applying could pay a special fee to have the passport issued in one day.
——–Agencies