Criticisms
trail issuance of Nigerian ECOWAS passport abroad
Many
Nigerians living abroad, who are yet to obtain the new ECOWAS passport popularly
known as e-passport, should prepare for serious hiccups and hitches ahead.
A
Nigerian, who simply wants to be identified as Michael and has just obtained the
e-passport told African Examiner that the
online payment procedure was “very very
awkward” because after you’ve filled out all your bio-data and other personal information
and ready to make payment “you’ll then be told that debit and credit cards are no
more accepted, at that point you’re asked to go and buy a $65 US post office money
order and key in its control number where you would have put the credit car number”
After
that, he continued “you’ll have to mail the money order to a payment centre in Connecticut and wait until they receive it and get back to
you via email, perhaps in another three to four days, before proceeding to consulates of your
choice-Atlanta, New York or Washington, DC.”
Sadly,
the website falsely listed Washington, DC as one of the centres issuing the passport whereas
only the Atlanta and New York consulates are issuing it.
A
lot of people have selected the Washington, DC as their choice of obtaining the passport only to
travel there and be told, sometimes in unfriendly terms, that they have to go New York or Atlanta.
“They
don’t even tell you when making payments online that Washington,
DC is not issuing the passport, only to travel
down with your family and find out that you have to again go to New York or Atlanta.
It is not even automatic; you have to get an appointment date before you can
proceed to these places, why can’t they open more issuing locations,
particularly the Washington, DC
area to serve Maryland, Virginia, and other neighbouring states. ”
Mrs Akindele, a Nigerian living in Alexandra Virginia, lamented.
According
to her, restricting the issuing centre to just New York
and Atlanta is not
in the best interest of many who are living in far states.
On
why credit and debits cards are not being accepted, African Examiner gathered
that they were suspended due to fraud. Our source said “people will ask their
banks to stop the payment, after they have completed their registration and
obtained their passport.”
Apart
from the United States,
Nigerians living in other countries, especially in Asia
are also finding it difficult to obtain the new passport.
A
Nigerian living in UK said after making his own payment and completed the registration
last month, he was given a date in October for the passport process.
It
is also interesting to note that if you make a payment abroad and you happen to
travel to Nigeria during the
period that you are waiting, you will not be able to use the same payment to
procure the passport in Nigeria
unless you make a new payment.
Meanwhile,
reports reaching us indicate that the Nigerian government may have recognized
the hitches, as it has lifted the suspension placed on the machine readable
passport, popularly known as MRP, which was originally scheduled to terminate
on April 30, 2011.
The
government had announced that Nigerians holding the MRP passport would not be
able to use them to travel at the end of April 2011 as they are expected to
obtain the ECOWAS passport.
A
senior official at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC
told African examiner that anyone who still holds the MRP passport can still
use them to travel if the passport has not expired.
His
words “If you have an unexpired MRP passport you can still use it to travel but
if expired you cannot use it nor renew it, your only option is to obtain the e-
passport.”
However,
as part of intervention to ease the problem, Officers of the Nigerian Immigration
Service from Nigeria have been going round to various cities across the US to
help facilitate speedy issuance of the passport to those living far away from
New York and Atlanta, the last batch of the officers just left US last month
and may return in July, according to our source. It is not clear however, if
this intervention is being extended to Nigerians living in other countries/end
source African Examiner
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