Growing Demand for Passport Lead to Over Crowding at Immigration Office

As Solomon Islands continue to send increasing numbers of Seasonal workers to Australia and New Zealand through the Labour Mobility Unit (LMU) program, the demand for passport has also tremendously grown since the end of the year 2021.

And this can be easily seen in the huge number of people congregated in and around the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, labor, and Immigration (MCILI) compound.

The MCILI Management understands the concerns raised by the public due to a large number of people crowding the immigration office just for passport applications mostly from the LMU program affecting the normal or other travelers due to the long queue to reach the counter.

The MCILI Management through the Immigration division has come up with some solutions to counter the growing number of people crowding the immigration office.

Some of the measures will be enforced as of the coming week upon agreed dates.

These specific days; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are dedicated to LMU program applicants. The receiving of applications will be done on the morning part of the day and after the lunch hour, issuing of the passports will be done until close of business hours.

The other remaining days of the week, Tuesdays and Thursdays will mainly to process the renewal, official passports, students and normal traveling applicants.

The Immigration Division is also looking at increasing the capacities of the current passport system, by installing an additional server, which is in progress, and acquiring additional printing machine and other relevant equipment which are expected to arrive in a few weeks.

Very soon, there is a plan to roll out enrolment of passport applicants at the identified provinces and also to increase man power to counter the current challenges.

With the huge number of Solomon Islanders eyeing to join the LMU program, we understand it will be tough, thus the continuous coordination between immigration and LMU to identify the best solution to this specific issue.

Source: Ministry of Commerce, Industries, Labour & Immigration