Gambia
Immigration Department (GID) last week announced a new scheme for national
Identification cards and new financial costing of residential cards.
Following
the change of government in 2016, the government of Adama Barrow put an embargo
on the issuing of the old ID cards and in 2018, SEMPLEX Company was contracted
to produce the new biometric ID cards, passport and other national
identification documents.
Olimatou
Jammeh, Gambia Immigration Department Commissioner for documentation said as
part of the contract, SEMPLEX is also assigned with the printing of residential
permits, alien cards and non-Gambian ID cards.
“GID
has rolled out new financial costing for certain resident permits such as
resident permit A- at D1, 850, resident permit B- ECOWAS D1, 850, resident
permit B-NON-ECOWAS D3, 100, alien card D1, 600 and non-Gambian ID card which is normally paid by Senegalese is
D650.”
She
said in January 2018, the immigration department issued 138,764 of national
Identification cards in which 137 applicants were rejected because they were
not qualified Gambians and in 2019, 1, 916 applicants were referred to bring
more supporting documents to be able to secure a national identification card.
According
to her, thirty-two thousand, one hundred and twenty-seven passport readable
machines were issued to the immigration by Gambians in the Diaspora out of
which 271 were referrals and the number of biometric passports issued was 30,
882 and 152 were referral and 10 rejected.
“The
Immigration has prosecuted 12 cases due to false documents, including six
Sierra Leoneans, one Guinean and 5 Gambians,” she said.
Commissioner
Jammeh further explained that twenty-four Gambians who fraudulently obtained
Gambian documents, were made to pay resident permits and forty other nationals who
claimed to be Senegalese in order to evade payment of resident permits.
According
to her, the immigration department is facing challenges of escorts and false
declaration by Gambians and fictitious birth certificates.