Foreign Ministry cancels receiving cash for consular fees

Manama, Sept. 7 (BNA): The Undersecretary for Consular and Administrative Affairs, Ambassador Tawfeeq Ahmed Al Mansoor, announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will stop receiving cash for consular transactions or fees as of September 15, 2021, noting that the Ministry will collect consular legalization fees through e-payment. The Undersecretary added that “cancelling the cash payment process for consular transactions and shifting to e-payment using cards comes within the government's directives to convert government transactions into electronic transactions, in a way that facilitates the process of conducting transactions”, pointing out that many government bodies have begun to take such steps. He stressed that the issuance of electronic invoices comes after implementing electronic transformation for government payments, which the cabinet issued a decision for implementation late December. He also highlighted that one of the most important outcomes of this project is to reduce the need to carry cash in the customer service centres of the consular legalization offices, adding that this step would provide the customer with the advantage of proving the payment process electronically. He further clarified that this step supports the transformation of government transactions into electronic transactions, which will also be a seamless process for the beneficiaries of consular legalizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in addition to the Legalization Office at the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.