The Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports and Immigration announced on Tuesday that it has acquired over 200,000 ordinary passport booklets to address the increasing demand for the next two years.
During a press conference held at the immigration directorate premises in Juba, Deputy Director for ICT David Oromo Jobojobo stated that they have received the first shipment of 10,600 booklets and are expecting additional shipments within the next two weeks.
This procurement will facilitate the phasing out of second-generation passports and the adoption of third-generation passports, he added.
Oromo revealed that they currently have a backlog of over 70,000 second-generation passports that need to be processed before transitioning to the new system. The third-generation passports will have a validity period of 10 years, a notable increase from the current five-year validity.
Oromo emphasized, “The next-generation passports will feature ten-year visa pages, but for now, we are unable to issue them as we are still in the process of phasing out the old passports.”
He further added, “We have a considerable backlog in our system, approximately 70,000 passports. We kindly ask the public to be patient as we work to clear this backlog. Once everyone’s documents have been processed, we will provide further updates and inform the public once the system is cleared.”
Speaking on the matter, Lt. Col. Philip Kuch Manyuon, Assistant Director for Finance in the directorate, acknowledged that they had experienced a shortage of passports last week. He urged citizens in need of passports to proceed with the application process.
Kuch explained, “Two weeks ago, we ran out of passports due to payment issues with the Ministry of Finance. However, since the finance ministry made the payment, the passports have been shipped, and we do not anticipate any further issues.”
He emphasized that ordinary citizens can now process their passport applications and expect to receive them within 72 hours upon completing the necessary procedures.
Kuch reassured, “As of now, the passports are available. We would like to express our gratitude to the public for their patience during the period when students were facing difficulties in obtaining passports for scholarships and individuals seeking medical treatment abroad encountered challenges. Currently, the passports are ready, and it will only take 72 hours for you to receive your passport.”