Deputy Chief Immigration Officer Dennis Stephens on Thursday confirmed that persons have begun utilising the regional passport offices located in Linden and Berbice. This, he noted, is due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that the central office is currently accommodating 100 persons on a daily basis.
“Yes, persons start to utilise – in fact, it is not really Linden persons are coming, Linden residents are utilising Linden. But we would have observed that persons would have come here to Georgetown to utilise their service, and that would have caused a build-up in applicants in Georgetown,” Stephens confirmed during a telephone interview with this publication.
“I indicated that quite recent we would have observed that persons are coming from Berbice, but that would have… for this week, we observed that persons are now fully utilising New Amsterdam.
Passport Office at Fort Canje, Berbice
“I think that would have occurred because of the COVID, and we would have only been able to take in a certain number of persons,” he further indicated.
Moreover, he explained that persons who have been going to the Central office in Georgetown have been using the expedite service, whereby persons wanted their passport immediately.
“And that is why they are coming in that amount. So far, we would have observed that recent, as of yesterday (Wednesday) and today (Thursday), they are now fully utilising the Berbice branch… we had three days of a high influx, and we’re back to normalcy, from what I observed today,” he revealed.
Earlier this year, the Central Immigration and Passport Office in Camp Street, Georgetown recorded a major hike in traffic.
Stephens had explained back then that the reason for the heavy traffic is that many persons were not utilising the regional passport offices located in Linden and Berbice.
Additionally, Stephens highlighted that even though the central office would have stipulated 100 persons per day, it is flexible, depending on the individual’s situation. Persons would come in two batches. The first 50 from 07:00hrs and the second batch from 11:00hrs.
“Depending on the geographic location, we would accept persons. And depending on persons’ situation, we take into consideration. Persons use their passports to conduct business and also have to travel, so we would take into consideration. Even though we would have indicated earlier that we’re taking in 100, it is not cast in stone,” he indicated.
