CAIRO, Jan 31 (MENA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty discussed accelerating digital transformation and advancing consular services provided for Egyptians abroad.

The minister had a meeting with leaders of the ministries concerned with consular affairs and information technology to discuss this matter.

During the meeting, Abdelatty stressed the importance of increasing the pace of digital transformation as per presidential directives to make a qualitative shift in consular services provided to Egyptians abroad.

Abdelatty also expressed the Foreign Ministry's keenness on enhancing the use of technology in providing consular services for Egyptians abroad.

He also stressed the necessity of developing the technology infrastructure in the Egyptian embassies and consulates to provide more efficient and flexible services that meet the citizens' needs and facilitate their consular services through advanced electronic platforms.

The meeting also took up the latest developments related to digital transformation of consular services, including the new mechanism for issuing passports to Egyptians living abroad, which has already been implemented since January 1, 2025 in 36 Egyptian diplomatic missions abroad, representing 95% of the total issuance of passports to Egyptian citizens abroad. It is scheduled to start implementing it in all Egyptian embassies and consulates abroad starting as of February 1, 2025.

The applications for issuing passports are sent electronically to the passport application center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This contributes to reducing processing times for issuing a passport to a few days instead of months.

As for the Egyptian missions in the Gulf countries, the process of issuing a passport for an Egyptian citizen now takes a few days between submitting an application for a passport and receiving it.

The foreign minister also directed to launch a new mechanism as of February 1, 2025, to accelerate the procedures for issuing a digital birth certificate for the first time.

This will significantly shorten the time period for issuing this basic document for births abroad, enabling the newborn’s family to obtain the digital certificate and the passport in a short period not exceeding a few days in countries having the largest numbers of Egyptian communities.

The meeting also took up expanding e-services to facilitate procedures for documentation and attestation of official documents, and send them electronically to the concerned authorities to review and approve.

In this regard, Abdelatty stressed the pressing necessity of briskly taking these steps as per the specified timetable, and setting up clear-cut mechanisms to ensure the sustainable development of digital services.

Abdelatty also stressed the necessity of activating modern technology solutions to facilitate procedures for Egyptian expatriates and save the time taken to provide consular services in line with the State’s all-round vision for digital transformation.

At the end of the meeting, the foreign minister directed the senior officials to promote cooperation with the view to improving and expanding consular services. (MENA)
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