Friends in higher places ! | Alive and Thriving on April 29, 2025, Tuesday

The first document we need for the newborn to apply for the passport is the birth certificate from the ROP (Royal Oman Police). I asked others (who have recently received the birth certificates for their newborns) about the documents. I gathered all the documents and went to the police headquarters yesterday (28th of April). My marriage documents lacked some of the seals and signatures. I showed the police officer all other valid documents (Omani ID cards, Passport, hospital documents, etc.), but he was quite stubborn. He insisted on the properly signed marriage documents.

I had the main copy of the marriage documents. Back then, in 2016, the same documents were sufficient to get the visa for my wife. Afterwards, I never needed to show the documents anywhere. My firstborn was born in Bangladesh. Hence, no marriage certificates were required to make a passport for him. I just kept the main copy in my documents file. I didn't even have an idea that the marriage documents needed more stamps from other offices.

Anyway, as the police officer rejected my application, I asked for help from the PRO (public relations officer) at our company, who is an Omani. He failed to convince the police officer, too. So, I had no choice other than getting the seals/signatures on the documents. For that, my wife needed to go to Bangladesh physically!! What a pain!!

I informed all the issues to one of my Bangladeshi friends, who is a big investor (businessman) here in Oman. He has a few shopping centers. He told me that he would handle it! He has friends in ROP! Later in the evening, he gave me a number of another police officer and asked me to meet him the next morning!

This morning (April 29) morning I went to the police headquarters again, with the same documents. I took the ID card and Passport of my elder son as well. The higher-ranked police officer was quite nice. He called me to his office. He examined all the available documents and approved my application. An interesting matter is that the higher-ranked police officer sent me to the same officer who rejected my application the previous day. This time, he turned into a good officer too and completed all the procedures in 10 minutes! I got the birth certificate for my newborn!!

Having friends in higher positions makes things easy!

Okay. That's all for today. I am alive, healthy, and thriving. So do other family members. Alhamdulillah. How about you?