Malawians who got affected by the scaling down of passport printing at Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services have all the reasons to smile as the department says it will today start issuing passports to thousands of Malawians who applied.
Following the termination of a K47.4 billion production supplies deal with Techno Brain last year, the department scaled down the printing of passports a development which saw thousands of Malawians who applied for the document left helpless.
However, Malawians who applied for the passport can now breathe a sigh of relief as the department has on Thursday announced that it will from Friday March 25, 2022 commence an exercise of clearing passports backlog.
Through a public notice seen by this publication, the department said Malawians who were not issued with a copy after applying, should visit immigration offices in Blantyre, Lilongwe Mzuzu and Mangochi for collection.
“The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services wishes to inform the general public that it will commence the exercise of clearing passports backlog from Friday March 25, 2022.
“As such, the Department is advising all individuals who submitted their passport applications between January 2021 and March 2022, and are yet to be issued with a passport, to check with the Passport Printing Centers in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Mangochi to collect their passports in person,” reads part of the notice.
The department has further urged all passport applicants wanting to collect their copy that they will be required to bring the original receipt, a proof of payment which applicants are issued with upon submitting their passport applications.
It is reported that the department over the weekend received passport consumables which were supposed to be supplied by Techno Brain before the contract was terminated, hence the commencement of the exercise.
According to the department’s national public relations officer Wellington Chiponde, currently the department has over three thousand applications for passports waiting to be cleared during this exercise
