Thursday, 14th November 2024

Dominica to establish permanent offices in New York, London, UAE to process E-passports of diaspora

The government of Dominica has made new changes to the immigration department of Roseau as the it moves ahead with shifting to E-passports. 

Thursday, 27th January 2022

Dominica Minister for National Security Rayburn Blackmoore
Roseau, Dominica: The government of Dominica has made new changes to the immigration department of Roseau as the country moves ahead with shifting to electronic passports.  As per reports, the new addition to the Immigration Department will speed up the issuance of the Electronic Passports due to an increase in staff.  The staff will operate on a shift system from 8:am to 4:00 pm and from 4:00 pm to 12:00 am. The shift system is put in place to ensure that there are no delays in passport issuance. The staff has been increased to guarantee that all passports are processed in the six-month time frame.  The transition period is changed from two years to six months. The new deadline to update Electronic passports is August 31, 2022. Earlier, the date was July 30, 2023. The government claimed that the date had been preponed as the world was moving fast. 

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For a smooth transition, the government stated that the diaspora would have the ability to shift to e-passports at their nearest embassies.  Minister for National Security Rayburn Blackmoore stated that permanent offices are established in New York, United Arab Emirates, and London. He said Dominicans residing in other destinations can also apply for their E-Passports. "The permanent locations will not be issuing passports in these locations, but the information will be instantaneously sent to the centralized Immigration Department in Roseau, and all passports will be issued by the centralized location", said Minister Blackmoore. The National Security Minister said the entire system is locked by way of two keys, the Commissioner of Police and the Head of Immigration. Minister asked the people to remain calm and ensured that every person would get their passports processed within the given time frame.  The new electronic chip-enabled passports are designed by the Canadian Bank Note Company and are fully secure for use.