By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has implemented a new $200 fee for people who require passports within 48 hours on an emergency basis.
This comes as the Passport Office grapples with a backlog of 6,500 applications and is struggling to meet an extended deadline of 12 weeks from the date of application. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said additional staff and equipment are being brought in to assist with the problem.
The new fee applies to applications received after July 1, according to a statement released by the ministry.
Additionally, those who have applied before July 1 and were given a certain date for the production of passports will not have to pay the new fee if the passport is needed at short notice.
The regular fee for passport renewal is $50.
There is also a $200 charge in addition to the cost of the passport for anyone who has lost two passports or more within a 12-month period. This fee is not payable where there is a medical emergency.
During the budget debate in the House of Assembly last month, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said the wait for passports would be extended to 12 weeks from the date of application.
However, officials continue to be challenged with meeting this deadline.
“The public is advised that those who need to have passports within 48 hours of the application after July 1 can, with the payment of a fee of $200, obtain the passport on an emergency basis,” the statement read.
“Those who have applied before July 1 and were given a date certain for the production of the passport, will not have to pay any additional fee for the production of the passport if needed at short notice.
“The office will do its best to accommodate all of these requests in order to facilitate medical emergencies, athletes representing the country or students returning to schools overseas. The additional fee applies only to applications brought in after July 1 who wish the passport produced within 48 hours.”
In order to facilitate emergency passport production requests, officials said the Passport Office will make available to the general public in the coming week, an email address through which such requests can be made.
This dedicated system will greatly assist the Passport Office in better serving the public, the statement said.
Last month, Mr Mitchell said the demand for passports tripled this year when compared to 2014. At the time he said the collection time would increase from eight weeks to 12 weeks.
Mr Mitchell said the impending discontinuance of hand written passports this year coupled with the “summer rush” has caused extremely long delays at the Passport Office.
Mr Mitchell has previously said that all Bahamian passport holders will have to have an e-passport by the end of this year.
Comments
sheeprunner12 8 years, 9 months ago
Why is there a backlog??????????? Is the backdoor "tips" system the real problem???????
Fred should be ashamed of this PO inefficiency...................... what goes around, comes around (at the taxpayer's time and expense)
Reality_Check 8 years, 9 months ago
Registered voters in Fred Mitchell's constituency will tell you who they phone in his constituency office in order get their Bahamian passports within a week or so tops at no extra charge. They will tell you this is one of the many perks they receive from Freddy Boy for keeping him in the House of Assembly. In fact, Freddy Boy's constituents probably laugh at the rest of us Bahamians every time we complain to the press about the great difficulties we have in getting our passports. You can bet your last dollar that just about every individual of Haitian heritage living in Freddy Boy's constituency has a Bahamian passport, no matter how they came to be living in the Bahamas.
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 9 months ago
A Canadian friend of mine living here in Nassau was telling me just the other day how impressed he was with the speed in which the Canadian Government recently renewed his passport. It was done in just under three weeks and that included the time it took for his renewal documents to get from Nassau to the Canadian Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, and for that Embassy to send his new passport to him here in Nassau. Fred Mitchell should be ashamed of himself for failing to get to the bottom of all the problems preventing the timely processing of Bahamian passports. Just how incompetent can he possibly be (dare I ask)? Perhaps he's quite content to sit back and extort $200 from the many Bahamians who desperately need their passport much sooner than 12 weeks or more!!
realfreethinker 8 years, 9 months ago
Jokes by Fwed
OMG 8 years, 9 months ago
Why should we pay $200 for the continuing incompetence of the Bahamian Government and many of the employees who seem to forever be away from their desks, on vacation, having lunch or on sick leave. I have been waiting for my National Insurance pension for over 9 months after official retirement and this just illustrates the mind set of many government employees.
SP 8 years, 9 months ago
.......................... Typical Bahamians, Apply Late Then Blame Government .......................
How many of you clowns "had no idea" your passports needed renewing by end of the year or woke up last week and decided to take the family on summer vacation?
Calling a spade a spade. You people are either totally unorganized or just plain chronic complainers.
Government has been announcing the deadline for months if not years. And everyone is well aware of the problems caused by Haitians infiltrating the passport office. (Haitians that you same people hire)
In any event you have no one to blame but yourselves! Family Islands are beautiful this time of year....Or pay the $200.00 and STFU!
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 9 months ago
You and others just as angry as you, who are capable of defending the PLP no matter what, truly deserve the PLP!
TruePeople 8 years, 9 months ago
like well mudda tek sic sey, Canada passport internationally in less than three weeks. Bey I can tell you in Canada, regualr renewal, less than a week - bey a couple days you have your thing - dats normal time.
Dats if it's last minute, expired, whatever, it don't matter! it's a renewal! It's not complicated!
An you call the ppl unorganised? Bey next i guh hear SP is runnin for PM and he win dred - you fit in wid the politician dem for realll
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