AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Travel Belize passport printer not in service

Immigration CEO Confirms Malfunction of Passport Printer

It has been almost a week now since it was discovered that the passport printer at the Immigration Department was malfunctioning. It is a situation that does not have any immediate remedies and so the powers that be had to come up with an alternative system in honor to honor the applications coming in. Love News spoke with Chief Executive Officer, Edmund Zuniga who explained how the matter is being handled.

EDMUND ZUNIGA

"I wouldn't say that the 6 to 8 month period is totally accurate. What has happened is that our printer, the machine that actually prints the data page of the passport has malfunctioned and so it would not be proper to continue issuing those same machine readable passports if they were not printed properly. So what we are doing is that for persons who need to travel urgently we are issuing temporary passports. We are putting in place for those persons who already have a passport but the passport would have expired we are putting in place an extension system instead of issuing a renewed passport until we can get our system back up. We are looking at anywhere between three to six months. Well you know that our passport system was already outdated, obsolete and so we are actually looking forward to a new passport system but if we can get the printing aspect of it repaired or replaced in the mean time we get the new passport system. Those temporary passports will be accepted by other countries; what we are also doing as we speak is to notify our missions abroad and other embassies of this situation here in Belize so that our Belizeans have no difficulty getting in and out of other countries using a temporary passport. They would have to be regular issuance because of course the express passports are for regular passports. The temporary passports depending on the reasons for travel we always make arrangements for persons to get them. Temporary passports are cheaper; bear in mind that we are also going to be doing extensions of expired passports instead of issuing a passport we are going to be putting on a sticker or a stamp which is going to tell the other country that that passport has been extended for a certain period."

As CEO Zuniga mentioned, the consulates abroad have been informed and travelers using the temporary passport should have no issues at ports of entry.

LOVEFM

Immigration Department to issue temporary passports

The Immigration Department issued an official release today informing the public that the Passport Office is experiencing technical difficulties with the passport printing process.

The release says that the Immigration Department will be providing temporary passports, in emergency cases, to persons whose passports are exhausted, lost (6 weeks waiting period apply), damaged or mutilated, and who demonstrate a need for urgent travel.

Temporary passports will be processed within one week, with validity for one year at the normal fee of $30.

Starting March 7, machine readable passports (MRP) that have expired, but have blank pages, will be extended for one year.

Extensions will be processed in one week free of cost, on completion of the attached form which is available at the district offices, overseas and on the Immigration & Nationality Service (INS) website at http://www.ins.gov.bz" www.ins.gov.bz.

Persons residing overseas should contact the nearest Belize Embassy or Consulate to access this extension process.

The various Immigration Offices will continue to accept applications for processing of passport applications and these applications will be processed as soon as the system becomes functional

"The Department continues to work to find a solution to this problem," it ends

---

Please be informed that the Passport Office is presently experiencing technical difficulties with the passport printing process.

The Immigration Department will be providing temporary passports, in emergency cases, to persons whose passports are exhausted, lost (6 weeks waiting period apply), damaged or mutilated, and who demonstrate a need for urgent travel. Temporary passports will be processed within one (1) week, with validity for one (1) year at the normal fee of $30.00.

Starting 7th March 2017, machine readable passports (MRP) that have expired, but have blank pages, will be extended for 1 year. Extensions will be processed in one week free of cost, on completion of the attached form which is available at the district offices, overseas and on the Immigration & Nationality Service (INS) website at www.ins.gov.bz. Persons residing overseas should contact the nearest Belize Embassy or Consulate to access this extension process.

The various Immigration Offices will continue to accept applications for processing of passport applications and these applications will be processed as soon as the system becomes functional. The Department continues to work to find a solution to this problem.

[size:14pt]Passport Systems Back On Stream[/size] On March first, the passport office reported that their passport printing equipment had broken down, and only temporary passports could be issued. Well, today the Department announced that it will resume normal processing of applications for renewal and issuance of new passports on Monday. Those applying for expedited passport services may submit applications to the office in Belmopan, and this wanting normal passport services can just go to their district offices, except Orange Walk and Dangriga. [url=http://www.7newsbelize.com]Channel 7[/url]