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| The new St. Kitts and Nevis passports |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 26TH 2005 New machine readable passports launched by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis Tuesday evening not only complies with the required standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but also enhances the security and integrity of the travel document.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Immigration, Justice and Labour, Mrs. Astona Browne said the new system was purchased from Canadian Bank Note Company at a cost of just over US$1 million.
She said the new machine readable passports will prevent the tampering of documents and greater control of the Federation's borders.
Over the years we have had to rely on the keen eye of our immigration officers to identify the documents that have been tampered with. Individuals habitually removed the data page of a passport that they might have found or stolen and as we would say in local parlance, doctored it, said Browne.
She said the current passport with the laminated data page at the back posed little challenge to the frauds who would remove the photograph of the legal passport holder and replaced it with their own in order to conceal their own identity.
Non-nationals would do this to gain entry into ports where under normal circumstances they would not have easy access. We continue to see evidence of this right here in the Federation, said Browne.
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| Permanent Secretary, Mrs Astona Browne addressing the ceremony. |
She told officials attending the ceremony that three types of passports are available, the regular (blue coloured which was previously green); the official (blue coloured, it was blue previously) and the Diplomatic, which is burgundy.
According to Mrs. Browne, the new passport is similar on the cover to the current document used, except that it carries the CARICOM Logo and the words Caribbean Community at the top with the Coat of Arms and the name of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Applicants will have to submit a completed application form, two passport size photos instead of three, a birth certificate, a police record and EC$85 in stamps for persons 16 and over and EC$50 for children under 16 years. The application form would cost EC$15.
She pointed out that with the high level of security features in the new travel document and the technology involved, the mild increase in the cost of the new passport would still make St. Kitts and Nevis passports, the cheapest in the world.
Some persons are in the habit of losing their passports, sometimes not deliberately, sometimes by design. The passport is the property of the Government loaned to you for a specified period to give you passage throughout the world. They must not be altered or defaced, said Browne. She said the fee for replacing a lost passport will be $250.00 and the processing of an emergency passport will be $150.00.
Mrs. Browne disclosed that the application forms will be available this week and the Passport Office will begin accepting completed application forms on November 15th.
She said that current passports will be valid until the phase out period is announced.
