The Consulate General of Pakistan in Jeddah has introduced an online appointment system for National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and Machine-Readable Passport (MRP) services, aimed at making consular services more efficient and reducing waiting times for Pakistani citizens in western Saudi Arabia. The new system will become mandatory from October 1, 2026, with NADRA and MRP-related services to be provided exclusively through scheduled appointments. Appointment bookings opened on September 20, allowing Pakistani citizens to select a convenient date and time online before visiting the consulate to complete their applications, replacing what had previously been a walk-in process at one of the consulate’s busier service counters.
Under the system, applicants will receive an SMS notification along with a tracking ID after successfully booking an appointment, with the tracking ID allowing them to follow the status of their appointment online rather than relying on in-person follow-up. The initiative is intended to eliminate lengthy queues and reduce overcrowding at the consulate by allocating designated time slots to applicants, addressing a persistent operational challenge given the size of the Pakistani diaspora served by the Jeddah mission, which has offered NADRA-related services since establishing one-window facilitation back in November 2020. Moving from that earlier walk-in one-window model to a fully scheduled, trackable system marks a meaningful shift in how the consulate manages its highest-demand services.
Pakistan’s Consul General in Jeddah, Syed Mustafa Rabbani, said the appointment-based system would make services more convenient and citizen-friendly while helping applicants save valuable time, framing the change as directly benefiting the practical experience of Pakistanis living across the western region of the Kingdom who rely on the consulate for identity and travel documentation. The move also aligns with a broader pattern of Pakistani missions abroad digitizing consular processes over the past year, following similar efforts by NADRA domestically to expand appointment booking, digital verification, and remote biometric services through tools like the PakID app. Extending this kind of structured, trackable booking system to overseas missions gives Pakistanis abroad access to service improvements that have already been rolling out within the country itself.
The consulate has urged members of the Pakistani community to familiarize themselves with the new procedure and obtain appointments in advance ahead of the October 1 implementation date, signaling that walk-in access without a prior booking will no longer be an option once the system goes fully into effect. Appointments for NADRA and MRP services can be booked through the consulate’s online appointment portal at appointment.parepjeddah.org. Whether the new system meaningfully reduces the reported overcrowding and wait times at the Jeddah consulate will likely depend on how quickly the Pakistani community in western Saudi Arabia adapts to the mandatory booking requirement, and how well the underlying appointment portal handles demand once the October 1 deadline arrives and walk-in access is no longer permitted.
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