I just received the following info from SR at JED, which MAY clarify the situation:-
Saudi Immigration Authorities have changed the procedure, some 4 months back and the rule is now the following :
Passengers do not need to fill-in Landing Card if :
- passenger is GCC national ( Saudi, Bahrein, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, etc)
- passenger is resident in Saudi Arabia (holder of Iqama).
Passengers need to fill-in Landing Card if:
- passenger is holding a visitor visa
- passenger is holding a umrah or hajj visa (religious traffic).
We have informed our Crew about this new procedure since the introduction of the new rule.
We thank you for having brought to our attention this mishaps and we will remember our Crew to pay more attention on that particular issue in the future.
With our best regards,
. . . . after all that lot, who can blame any crew just "handing them out to everyone!!!!