ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The Saudi Embassy in Islamabad on Friday declared that with effect from Muharram 1, 1428 Hijra — corresponding to Jan 20, 2007 — visas would be issued only after the submission of machine readable passports.

The embassy requested through a press release that all people who sought visas for Saudi Arabia for any purpose — including visit, Umrah or work —should ensure that their applications are accompanied by machine readable passports, failing which their applications will not be entertained.

The issuance of work visas had not been stopped and over 350 work visas were issued on Friday by the embassy staff in Islamabad.

Due to the new regulations, issuance of visas might have slowed down in Karachi but it had not stopped.