November 25, 2001	Sunday	Ramazan 9, 1422

RIYADH, Nov 24: Saudi nationals applying for US visas will have to submit, along with their visa applications, photographs showing their full face without their headdress, the kaffiyeh, which they normally use.

Until now most of the Saudis used to submit their photographs with their head covered for all official purposes including visa applications. Now such photographs would no longer be acceptable, at the US embassy at least.

The new regulations also require the applicants to provide their complete street address in Saudi Arabia, and not only the post office box number. Street addresses are not common in Saudi Arabia and post office box numbers were regarded as sufficient until now.

These requirements are internationally accepted, but they are being implemented for the first time by the US embassy here. These regulations were issued last week, travel industry sources told the local press here.

Reports here indicate that air traffic from Saudi Arabia to the US and other western destinations had started picking up, although it is much below the level of before September 11.

“We are now processing 10-15 passports every day, as against 50 before (Sept 11). By contrast the number of Saudis visiting Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia has gone up by 120 percent,” a travel industry executive was quoted by the press here as saying. Egypt apparently is the top most attraction among the Middle Eastern destinations.

Tourism traffic to India, according to some recent reports, has also risen by 20 percent. India is trying to attract a still larger number of tourists from this part of the world, who are reluctant now to go over to the West for tourism and sight seeing.

Some recent reports in the international media of close monitoring of Arab students studying in Pakistan by the intelligence agencies has apparently restrained any significant increase in number of travellers to Pakistan from this part of the region. Due to the political situation in Pakistan and an apparent tightening of the visa regimen, Pakistan appears to be losing out in the battle to attract significantly greater number of visitors from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, travel industry sources here emphasized.