Muqeem...
The beginning of the Story

Was technology the problem?!

When talking about transforming into e-services, the first thing comes to the mind that technology is the biggest challenge in this equation, but it is actually not.

Providing e-services is not about digitizing procedures, however, it is about analyzing the goal of every procedure and rebuilding them based on the given data, which is called, Business Process Reengineering, in the business world.

When we think deeply about the big companies that failed, we realize that the most significant reason for failure is inability to manage change and business reengineering and adapt to our fast-evolving world. So, what if the change is in a country level with its confidential government sectors and high-risk information security?!

Business Process Reengineering responsibility exceeded Kingdom borders, to reach all the countries that will adopt this unprecedented service.

Changing to digital services – fifteen years ago – was challenging because people were used to the traditional methods of providing services for tens of years.

Everything was new... Challenges were huge



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Different Challenges …

We started to automate the procedures of “Exit Re-entry Visa” service, as it is the most frequently used service among other Muqeem services.
If we look at the traditional and manual methods of providing the service, we see so many difficulties facing the parties involved in the process, such as:

Requests should only be submitted during official working hours of passport offices.

Submission of applications should only be at the passport office.

Residents should request for visas well before travelling date, as they can not get it on the same application day, which is considered as a serious problem in emergency cases.

Data errors due to a manual data entry, which may be discovered in a critical time, like in the border crossing points.

Many requests for this service, especially in holiday seasons, and generally it is the most requested among passport services because a resident can apply for it many times a year.

We have faced other difficulties like:

1

It is the first e-government transformation project in the Kingdom, in cooperation with the General Directorate of Passports.

2

All the documents are papers.

3

Complicated procedures of government transactions.

4

Hard to get approvals and take ministerial and financial decisions.

5

Linking with other countries’ passport systems.

6

High change resistance when it comes to government projects (especially it is the first e-service in the Kingdom).

7

Lack of technical infrastructure and technical linking between related government authorities.

8

High confidential levels of data and documents that are used in the project, so it is necessary to maintain privacy and information security.

Strategy and Solutions

  • Although we chose visa service to start with, but our main goal was a strategic partnership that gradually leads to automating all passports services. The procedures of e-visa:
  • 1. In cooperation with the General Directorate of Passports and related governmental and civil authorities, we got the following legislations of the new service:
    • The employer issues Exit and Re-entry visa through a website that is linked with the passport office, so the requirements and conditions of the issuing can be verified electronically.
    • The employer prints and signs the issued visa.
    • The resident gets the copy of the visa in his passport to match it with the data registered in the system, exit and stamp on the visa and passport.
  • 2. Reaching this “three steps result” was not direct, as cancelling the “printing on passport” was not a choice. After months of alternative solutions, it has been agreed on approving the paper printed by the employer based on the data registered in the system. It is legally approved as an official paper.
  • 3. Transport companies requested to find a method to verify the visa validity, so we provide a website that helps ensuring its validity.
  • 4. We did tests in many countries based on a gradual plan (Dubai, Damascus, Cairo, Amman, India, and Bahrain) and the problems were solved by sending dispatches in cooperation with the General Authority of Civil Aviation.
  • 5. Passengers have been accompanied during this flight (round-trip) to ensure completing all their travelling procedures and solving expected problems in advance.
  • 6. An integrated escalation plan has been developed to deal with possible emergency cases; it starts from the bottom until reporting to the passport manager if needed.
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From a manual poster to systemized data based on a printed paper



After the huge success of exit re-entry visa service, all Muqeem services have been launched consecutively and

40,000 clients

around the Kingdom have benefited from the services.

Remarkable Changes

  • Muqeem Main Services:
  • 1
    Reviewing and printing Passports or Traffic Departments reports, interactive services, subscriptions, transactions or payments .
  • 2
    Complete different forms (Completed electronically by typing Iqama number).
  • 3
    Printing and delivering Iqamas by local shipping companies without the need to visit the passport office.
  • 4
    Issuing, cancelling, or reprinting exit re-entry or final exit visas.
  • 5
    Issuing or renewing Iqama.
  • 6
    Transferring sponsorship.
  • 7
    Modifying profession.
52

Million e-transactions Since service was launched