PH embassy in Riyadh issued a record 72,028 passports in 2013

DFA Passports Processed in Riyadh

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has processed a record 72,028 passport applications for 2013, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement Friday.

“In 2013, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh processed 1,522 new passports for newly born infants; 64,298 renewals, and 6,208 replacement passports for lost passports,” DFA said.

“Around 6,000 replacement passports of the 6,208 were issued during the correction period, particularly in May and June. These numbers do not include the passport applications processed by the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah,” it said.

The 2013 number of processed passports was at its highest over the past years. In 2007, 31,990 applications were received.

According to records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), Saudi Arabia has the second largest population of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with 1,267,660 as of 2012.

The United States has the largest OFW population with 3,494,281 Filipinos

The deployment of OFWs to Saudi Arabia has been on the rise over the past several years with 330,040 new hires and rehires in 2012. The most hires were domestic helpers with 11,582 and in the nursing profession with 8,513.

In 2011, 204,088 OFWs were deployed to Saudi Arabia, 173,670 were deployed in 2010, 164,758 were deployed in 2009, and  153,675 were deployed in 2008.