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The new passport regulation

Jun 12, 2014 Editorial

The Guyanese community had different reactions to the news that anyone applying for a new passport is required to produce a birth certificate not less than six months older than the application. Simply put, anyone applying for a new passport must accompany the application with a birth certificate that has been issued no more than six months before the application.
There was no notice of this piece of news, at least a notice that the vast majority of people would have seen. The Home Affairs Minister did say that there were notices in one of the government-owned newspapers. It is good to use a newspaper to get the message across but one thing that the advertiser must ensure is that the newspaper enjoys proper circulation.
So it was that people travelled from Essequibo Coast and from Crabwood Creek to acquire a passport but had to return home empty-handed.  Of course they complained but being people who tend to be afraid or nervous in the face of officialdom, these people merely picked up their bags and walked home.
There were those who sought out the media, at the same time seeking anonymity, to complain about the vast sums they were asked to spend merely to come to the city only to be sent away. The officials told them that they should have telephoned ahead to be told what they would have been required to walk with.
The Immigration Department must explain how it would handle no fewer than one hundred phone calls, each dealing with the requirements for a passport. The Chief Immigration Officer should have been using the radio which is ubiquitous and the television stations which have the ability to run scrolls for little or no cost.
But there is the legal side to all this. An individual’s birth certificate does not carry an expiry date. To insist on one six months before the application date is to suggest that any other birth certificate is null.  Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee said by way of explanation that there have been many forgeries in the area of birth certificates and marriage certificates.
Citing the demands by the United States Embassy, Rohee said that when a Guyanese goes to the Embassy the consular officer would merely ask the applicant to bring a new birth certificate. The reason is that if the person was using a forgery, then to get a second forgery to match the one already submitted would be extremely difficult.
It is said that many people simply do not return to the embassy, cancelling any attempt to secure a visa. The immigration officials were of the same mind. They wanted to ensure that they are provided with a genuine document.
This would mean many things. The name of the person, his date of birth and all pertinent information would have to be consistent with the previous birth certificate.
We must admit that one day after the news came out that the applicant needed a birth certificate that was no more than six months old, the passport office was almost empty. It is one thing to trap those who have forged documents and another to inconvenience hard working people. That is why some of them are considering going to the courts to challenge this decision.
The Home Affairs Ministry says that this request for a recent birth certificate is nothing strange or something new. He said that months ago the decision was taken to have the applicant go to the immigration office with a new birth certificate. The decision, however, was not put into effect for some unknown reason.
It was only recently that someone in the hierarchy took the decision out of the woodwork. In so doing, there is going to be additional pressure on the Registrar General’s Office. This department is requested to provide all certificates. Children need their birth certificates to sit the National Grade Six Examinations and all the external examinations. Now there is going to be a steady flow for birth certificates.
How does this stop forgery? It does not. What will happen is that the individual would have to seek out the American Embassy at the same time he or she is applying for a passport. Identical forgeries procured at different times are almost impossible.

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