Saudi passport office begins training first female recruits

Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Passports said on Tuesday it had begun training its first female recruits.

The two-week programme, which began on Sunday, is being implemented across Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Sharqiya, Tabuk, Al Jawf, Northern Frontiers, Qassim and Asir, the organisation told Saudi Press Agency.

The training will see 290 women acquainted with the work and procedures of the directorate and its methods of examining travel documents and handling the public.

It represents the first phase a programme that will eventually see female recruits taken on at the directorate.

Work in passport offices is one of several new professions being opened to women as the kingdom looks to increase their role in society.

Read: Saudi government to hire first women ‘soldiers’

Reports in February indicated more than 100,000 women had applied for 140 passport control jobs.

One major driver of female jobs is expected to be the lifting of the kingdom’s female driving ban in June.

Read: Saudi women expect new job opportunities after lifting of driving ban