RIYADH, July 21: The fate of the US Visa Express programme, which facilitated the obtaining of the US entry visas from the US embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah, is still unclear.

The confusion arose after the US State Department said it was ending the Visa Express programme and would require those seeking visas to (the US) to apply in person and be interviewed.

The Washington Times reported that the State Department had decided to cancel the programme with effect from July 20, which was the start of the embassy’s work week in Saudi Arabia.

A State Department official was quoted as saying by the newspaper that the decision had been taken because of the strong criticism from the US congress about what was being termed “lax controls” over visa application from Saudi Arabia.

The Visa Express programme was a facility provided to Saudi citizens to obtain entry visas for the United States by submitting their applications with one of the designated travel agencies and courier services in the kingdom. The designated travel agencies in this case were thus being used as collection points for visa applications. The programme in most cases processed the applications in 24 hours.

However, the designated travel agency and the courier service responsible for collecting visa applications throughout the kingdom under the Visa Express scheme are still not sure of the new measures.

The representative of one of the travel agencies involved in the programme was reported to have said, “We have no such information about this and we will continue providing the service until we are told to stop.”

However, a US public relation department’s official was quoted as saying that the programme was still in effect but would be restructured.