RIYADH, July 31: Saudi Arabia will soon start fingerprinting all those who enter the country, whether by sea, land or air.

Implementation of the new system will begin once the passport department enforces the newly introduced electronic residence permits system, hopefully within the next three months, the head of the passport department in Saudi Arabia, Maj-Gen Abdul Aziz Sajeeni, has been quoted as saying.

Passport officers are currently undergoing training to be able to implement the new rules. The step has been taken to overcome the chronic problem of over-stayers. A large number of people who come on Haj and Umrah visas often overstay and this has been a contentious issue for the last many years for the Saudi government.