Central Immigration Office to process 100 applications daily

The Central Immigration and Passport Office in Camp Street, Georgetown, on Tuesday recorded a major hike in traffic as persons flooded the entity to process various transactions – an occurrence that has not happened in recent years.
Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Dennis Stephens said this unusual occurrence started a few weeks ago where over 200 persons are being attended to per day.
It was reported that for the past few days, hundreds of persons were seen queuing outside the facility.
Stephens explained that the reason for the heavy traffic is due to the fact that many persons are not utilising the regional passport offices.

The line at the passport office in Georgetown on Tuesday

“What we have observed, there are two offices, one in Linden and one in Berbice… even though they live in those areas, they still come to town, and that is what really is the problem. What we have decided to do is to only accept 100 applicants per day. Fifty in the morning, and 50 in the afternoon to be able to solve the problem.”
Stephens said the Immigration Office is forced to put this mechanism in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This mechanism would have taken effect since last week. What occurs, a lot of persons are using their passports for business transactions taken into consideration many of them may not have an ID card. That is why large number of persons are coming for passports. Persons are also travelling,” he said.
He also lamented that persons are not adhering to COVID-19 protocols when visiting the passport office.
“We are living in Guyana and even though we would have indicated to persons to adhere to the COVID-19 protocol, persons are still breaching the guidelines.”
Meanwhile, a statement from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Tuesday afternoon reminded the general public that owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in keeping with the established safety guidelines, the Central Immigration and Passport Office at Camp Street, Georgetown, will be providing services to 100 persons on a daily basis. This took effect from Monday last.
“Fifty persons will be processed commencing at 07:00h and another 50 at 11:30h. A number system will be in effect,” the Police said.
Presently, there are passport offices at Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) and New Amsterdam in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). Lethem, Mabaruma, Anna Regina, Bartica, and Mahdia are expected to soon get regional passport offices.
The goal is to decentralise immigration services, to reduce the crowds that would be at the Georgetown office on a daily basis.