Director Immigration, Nemani Vuniwaqa

Director Immigration, Nemani Vuniwaqa says the lodging process for the new ePassport will remain the same.

Vuniwaqa says they do not want to frustrate the public by having additional days, so they will stick to five working days.

However, he says the lodging fee will change, but it will be decided once the books are in the country.

The fee change according to the Director is due to the added features in the book.

“If your passport is still valid when ePassports come into play, obviously you will apply for a new book and that is for an ePassport and there is no additional fee from the transition from this book to the other but it is just the normal fee for that particular book.”

The transitioning to ePassport is being done in accordance with the Department’s National Development Plan.

The new passports will have added security features and is expected to decrease passenger processing at the borders.