Minister Fred Mitchell on delivery services at the Passport Office in Nassau

Mon, Jun 16th 2014, 10:05 AM

STATEMENT BY FRED MITCHELL MP
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
ON DELIVERY SERVICES AT THE PASSPORT OFFICE

I would like to alert the public to the fact of serious challenges at the passport office which will result in delays in the delivery of passport services during the summer. The waiting time I am advised is now on average six weeks from the time of application, up from four weeks.

I am advised that the reason for this is the combination of the rush for people to replace their handwritten passports with electronic passports which is mandated by an international agreement and the expected summer travel rush. I have met with the management of the passport staff and we are making several attempts to ease the situation.

The Minister for the Public Service has agreed to enable officers from across the service to join the passport office for this period and to assist in the creation of a two shift system in order to speed up the process.

Please note that if passports are required on an emergency basis, for example for health reasons, there is a procedure to deal with such genuine emergencies.

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