Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:10 AM
Jan 27, 2017 News
..efforts also being made to reduce possibility of fraud – Citizenship Minister
It appears that the Department of Citizenship within the Ministry of the Presidency is on a mission
to refine the nation’s visa and passport systems. And from the look of things, the Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix is quite confident that it is going to be a successful venture.
The relatively young Ministry encompasses a number of activities which include applications for passports, processing of applications for visas and work permits by foreign nationals, processing of persons seeking naturalization and registration as citizens of Guyana, and the registration of births, marriages and deaths.
For national development, the Minister said that Guyana embraces visitors and, where applicable, visas are sought to enable the arrival of visitors for various reasons, such as tourism, business, employment, education, and those engaged in Government business. Given this fact, he said that various categories of visas have been applied for and issued to facilitate visitors entering Guyana and arriving at a port of entry.
In September 2016, Felix noted that 1,163 visas of various categories had been issued to nationals from 76 countries, compared to 2015 when similar applications for visas were approved and issued to 1,171 foreign nationals from 74 countries.
Felix said that visas to enter Guyana is a requirement for foreign nationals, but the location of many of those persons in their countries in relation to consular offices, embassies and high commissions, requires the ability to travel long distances to apply for permits to enter Guyana.
This year, the Minister of Citizenship said that the Government wants to create a facility to set-up online applications for visas to enable foreign nationals to make their travel arrangements successfully, prior to arrival in Guyana.
In addition to this, he noted that the Government is exploring, with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), for the employment of online visas to reduce or to prevent the possibility of fraud. He said that appropriate allocations have been put aside to render both proposals realities.
It is now common knowledge that obtaining a Guyana passport provided a disconcerting experience for Guyanese in 2016, when the public bemoaned the large crowds which assembled outside the Passport Office from as early as 5.00 a.m. daily.
Felix said that this became a source of inconvenience which attracted several negative criticisms. But the Department of Citizenship was given the responsibility, inter alia, to correct this untenable situation with alacrity.
The Minister reminded that during the consideration of the Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure in 2015, a request for the release of funds was sought to acquire equipment for the Immigration Department. He said that this was in response to the need to address local and foreign needs for speedier processing of passports. He said that this request was approved. The equipment arrived in August, 2016 and was put into immediate use.
The Minister of Citizenship said that the result was that passports for the Diaspora were processed within five to seven days and the impact locally was the elimination of long lines and the removal of unnecessary inconvenience to the public seeking a simple service.
In addition to the aforementioned, Felix said that recently, many “skeptics” have expressed satisfaction with the transformation of the service.
He added, “Our quest for improvement in the passport service has led to the consideration of decentralization of the service to parts of the country where citizens would benefit the most.”
The Minister of Citizenship said, “The Georgetown Office is overcrowded and, up to November 25, 2016, that Office processed 105,068 passports. Of that number, 14,456 passports were prepared for the Diaspora. By decentralization, we seek to improve efficiency of the system by allowing the acceptance of applications for passports to be a regional activity and the completed passports are returned to and delivered in the regions, consequently, delivering a higher quality of service to our citizens.”
Felix reminded that President David Granger, in developing the concept of Capital Towns, intended for services offered by the Government to be accessed in those areas. He said that this essentially informed the decision to decentralize the service.
In this regard, he said that in August last year, one such office was opened in Linden, Region 10, and, at the end of November, 2016 another was established in New Amsterdam, Berbice, in Region Six. He said that other Capital Towns under consideration are Mabaruma, Region One and Bartica, Region Seven. He added that it is possible that Regions Eight and Nine would be considered for mobile service.
Felix said that the foregoing is the first installment of the plan to decentralize the service. He said that arrangements in place are temporary, allowing for receiving applications and delivery of passports on separate days of the week. He commented that this activity is proceeding smoothly.
The Minister of Citizenship said that allocations have been made to construct two permanent structures to be utilized as passport offices – one in New Amsterdam and the other in Linden.
He explained that the completion of these buildings would accommodate equipment to facilitate first-time applicants being processed, which would be an upgrade of what is happening now, thereby completing the entire application process in its decentralized state.
Given that these buildings are completed on time, Felix said that start-up could be anticipated late in the fourth quarter of 2017.
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