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The Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs has been able to process over nine hundred applications for an electronic passport through a community outreach initiative. Mobile kits with the capacity for recognition and data capture from any location were made available to aid in this process.

Minister for National Security and Home Affairs, Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore has commended the efforts reached through this initiative. He says the overall transition from a machine readable to an e passport has been going smoothly.

“We saw a number of people of advanced ages lining up at the various police stations to actually apply within their comfort zone for their passport. And that is what we mean within the Roosevelt Skerrit led administration, when we talk about building a dynamic country which of course also entails bringing basic services to the doorsteps of the residents of Dominica. I think that this is a tremendous step and from what I have seen from the reports, during this exercise 936 passport applications were received and I think that is commendable. You are talking about 936 people who do not have to come to Roseau to line up for that kind of service,” Hon. Blackmoore stated.

Minister Blackmoore ensures the public that the Ministry will continue to keep them well informed on the progress to the e-passport transition.

The date for this transition is quickly approaching and measures are being developed to maintain the collectiveness of citizens.

“Going forward we will do further assessments and in some communities we will have to a second round. As I have said before, and I want to reiterate for emphasis, we promised the public updates as we progress through that very important milestone. And we believe within the Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs, and your Government by extension, that it is absolutely important to communicate with the public. And that is so especially because we have so much misinformation going around now and of course once we have misinformation, that generates inevitably misunderstanding,” the Minister explained.

The Dominicans in the diaspora will not be left behind during that process. Minister Blackmoore reassure diasporans that mobile kits will be made available to them.

“I know there a number of people who live in the US Virgin Islands and people who live in St. Maarten who have been asking as to when their time is going to come. And I want to inform the public that we have put in place a schedule a timeline within which we are hoping that Dominicans living overseas can apply for their passport within their comfort zones,” the Minister went on to state.

Saint Maarten will be the first target country overseas.

“So people who living in ST. Maarten from the 20^th of June to the 23^rd of June 2022, we are going to have two teams in St. Maarten, because as you know we have the French and the Dutch, and we have Dominicans living in both; and they will ensure that people are able to access that very vital service. And for those of you who live in the USVI, you have an opportunity to apply for the Dominican passport from the 27^th of June to the 30^th of June 2022,” Minister Blackmoore added.  

All holders of a Dominican passport will have until the end of August 2022 to adopt that change.

Government launched the new biometric e-passport back in July 2021 with a changeover time frame of two years.