JEDDAH - The General Director of the Passport Department in Makkah Province, Brigadier Salem Al-Zahrani, said that there is no need for the members of the families of Iqama holders to be fingerprinted unless those family members are also workers.

Al-Zahrani denied that people are still standing in long lines in front of the fingerprinting centers in Jeddah because, he said, people now are aware of the procedures and realize that only those who are traveling are required to report to fingerprinting centers.

He explained that the crowds that formed when the fingerprinting campaign first began were a result of the lack of information.

"People were misinformed and thought that if they did not get fingerprinted early, they would be fined and would not be allowed to travel to their countries which caused the rush at the centers. Now we have made it clear to everybody that the fingerprinting campaign is open all year round and that people can visit these centers at any time," he said.

Maybe overcrowding at fingerprinting centers is still a problem in Riyadh, but not in Jeddah, he added.

There are three fingerprinting centers in Jeddah. These centers are at Dalah Street in Rehab District, Saudi Oger Company in the Corniche District and Abruq Al-Raghama District. Each center can serve 2000 people every day.

The fingerprinting centers work in two shifts, the first is from 7 A.M. to 3 P.M. and the second is from 4 P.M. to 10 P.M. with the best time to avoid waiting in line being around 6 P.M. Also, there are mobile fingerprinting centers which the Passport Department sends to hospitals and large companies that have over 600 foreign workers.

A Saudi Gazette team visited Abruq Al-Raghama center and met the supervisor of the center, Lieutenant Sultan Al-Harbi, who explained that each center has ten biometric machines. The center was well organized except for the fact that there were no signs telling visitors what documents they should bring or what hours the center was open.