The
Ministry of the Interior through the Office of the Minister informs the general
public that it has decided to partially lift the temporary ban on the issuance of
Machine-readable passports with effect from Monday April 3, 2017,
The
objective of the partial lifting of the ban is to allow Gambians who intend to
travel to Saudi Arabia to perform their religious injunction as regards the
Umrah and those travelling on medical grounds to have the required national
identification document.
Meanwhile,
the following conditions must be met for an intending pilgrim to be issued a
passport;
1. The intending pilgrim must personally
appear before a panel for interview
2. The intending pilgrim must bring along
authentic proof of Gambian nationality
3. The intending pilgrim must submit
airline reservation indicating date of departure/return
4. The intending pilgrim must pay the
prescribed fee
Following
the satisfaction of the above conditions and clearance by the immigration
department, passport will be issued within two working days.
It
is the information of the general public that this temporary suspension is
consistent with the need for the government to restore integrity and eliminate
fraud in the issuance and acquisition of vital national documents.
The
Ministry has, in fact, started a review of the process of issuance of passports
and national identity cards so as to ensure the sanitization of the serious
defects involved in the acquisition of these vital national documents.
The
Office of the Minister solicits the cooperation of the general public as it
works toward ensuring Gambian passports and other vital national identification
documents are respected around the world.
Signed
Ministry
of the Interior
