News
Online passports: Applicants complain of delays, Controller explains reasons
Although 35,000 online passport applications have been received through the new online application system at the Immigration and Emigration Department, only 3700 passports have been couriered to applicants, Controller General Harsha Ilukpitiya said.
Following a number of inquiries the Sunday Times received from various individuals on delays in receiving their passports after submitting their fingerprints, on Friday the Sunday Times contacted the department chief to find out the reasons for the delay.
Mr. Ilukpitiya said out of 35,145 online applications received till Thursday (July 20), 28,959 applications were for normal service–passport couriered within 14 days–and 6,186 applications were for urgent service–passport couriered within three days. Out of 35,145 online applications, only 16,869 applicants had placed their fingerprints at the designated divisional secretariat office and only 3,712 passports had been issued for delivery.
“At the department we are facing a backlog of applications that were received at the beginning of launching the system, since June 15, but we are trying to rectify some issues in the system and expedite the process. We have had discussions with the technical team at Informatics (Pvt) Ltd, who designed and built the system for the department, to look into some glitches and malfunctions faced when running the system for the people,” Mr. Ilukpitiya said.
He also said some of the applications received from those above 60 years of age, though they were not required to place their fingerprints, had not uploaded the signed document which was a mandatory form where the signature would be placed on the passport.
“We have sent text messages to those applicants to upload the document again with a clear signature. The system has to be fine-tuned to run smoothly, thus the delays in processing and delivering the passports on time. The online application platform is a hassle-free application process for applicants without having to visit the department and spend the whole day in long queues. The online payment platform is also available for applicants now to make the payment,” Mr. Ilukpitiya said.
He also mentioned that the three working days or 14 working days for urgent and normal services had to be calculated only from the day of submitting fingerprints for those below 60 years of age.
“Once the payment is made and fingerprints are placed, the passport will be processed for delivery. Also once passports are sent to the courier service, the applicants should receive them in one or two working days,” he said.
The Sunday Times also learned that applicants who applied online for passports–urgent and normal services–had to remind the department to obtain the passports even though every document uploaded was correct and in order and after fingerprints were placed.
One applicant who applied for an urgent passport service received the passport via courier after 14 days from the day of submitting fingerprints even though he paid Rs. 15,000 for the urgent service.
Another applicant who applied for a normal service spoke to the department several times to figure out where the passport was located–at the department or courier service–and collected the passport after three weeks at the department. This applicant had paid Rs. 5,000 for normal service.
Several online passport applicants had been inquiring on the status of their passports, but had been refused or were asked to come another day and many immigration department officials had been reluctant to listen to online passport applicants’ issues, the Sunday Times learned.
While the online passport application system runs on one side, the one-day passport service runs smoothly with no interruptions. People visit the department from various parts of the country, pay Rs. 20,000 to the department and obtain the passport within hours. The Sunday Times observed that on a Monday morning the queue comprised more than 500 one-day applicants within the first hour of the day. The revenue obtained was around Rs. 10 million.
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