Dominica: Rayburn Blackmoore, the Minister for National Security of the Commonwealth of Dominica, shared his words on the issuance of ePassports during his recent appearance at the national security press conference. He declared in his speech that no backlogs are there in the immigration department at the current time.

Minister Rayburn Blackmoore mentioned about the situation due to the issue seen in the process in the past. He made it clear to the public that how the things are being fixed and the steps government officials are taking towards the betterment of the process.

Minister Blackmoore stated that the officials are fulfilling their responsibilities and are ensuring to address the faced issues. Meanwhile, in the process, also putting the system all together in a chronological way which could lead to the better results.

Blackmoore highlighted in his statement about the situation people remember at the earlier stage of adapting ePassports in Dominica. He recalled how rushed it was and how people needed to face more prolonged process time as compared to previous machine readable passports.

In the process of overtaking the situation and moving further with the new structure, the minister declared the steps taken on the way forward. The additional steps were taken on board for a fluent flow of work with which they added the required printer and introduced a three-shift system.

Rayburn Blackmoore marked the positive results of the steps taken by the officials in the sector. He said, “We had got to a point because of the system that was put in place where applicants were getting their passports after one week of application. That happens nowhere in the Caribbean.”

He also added in his words, “As a responsible government we approved 50,000 additional books. I am happy to report here this morning that we have no backlog at the immigration department. As a matter of fact, I call on you who have been called by the immigration department to pick up your passport to do so.”

All above Minister Rayburn Blackmoore mentioned that currently there are more than two hundred ePassports awaiting pick-up. The processing time of the ePassport has also seen a notable change as it takes nearly two weeks now.

However, the steps and the required documents to gain the ePassport of Dominica will be similar to the machine readable passport for citizens. With the process, the cost of the application will also be similar which was set at a hundred and fifty East Caribbean dollars for individuals above 16 years and seventy-five East Caribbean dollars for under-age applicants.