Burma Opens New Passport Offices Around the Country
Burma Opens New Passport Offices Around the Country
Irrawaddy News, 10 Jan 2014
URL: http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/burma-opens-new-passport-offices-around-country.html
Burmese citizens can now apply for and directly receive passports at 15 locations around the country. Previously the country had only one passport office, in Rangoon.
The government opened new passport offices last week on Friday due to an increasing number of applicants who required the document for work or medical reasons, says Maung Maung Lin, a police officer from the Myanmar Passport Issuing Board who is based in Mon State.
Last year the government began taking steps to streamline the application process, reducing the waiting period from 21 days to 10 days to receive a passport. Application forms were condensed from 14 pages to five pages, while applicants were no longer required to submit documents proving they had fully paid their taxes.
With the new offices in states and divisions, applicants pay 20,000 kyats (US$20) in Rangoon for a passport and 25,000 kyats ($25) at other locations, due to extra processing fees. Passports are valid for five years and may be issued within three to five working days in certain cases, such as medical emergencies.
“Everyone with a National Identity Card and the original household registration card can apply for a passport,” Maung Maung Lin told The Irrawaddy. “There are already more than 50 people who have applied in Mon State.”
But former prisoners, including political detainees, must present additional documents and may be subjected to longer waiting periods, a senior official at the Myanmar Passport Issuing Board told The Irrawaddy last year.
One group that will likely benefit from the new passport services are Burmese citizens who plan to travel abroad as migrant workers, says migrants’ rights activist Tun Tun Lwin.
“Once they have a passport in hand, the process will not be costly anymore,” he said. But he added that it might still be a good idea to visit Rangoon before departure, to make use of official employment agencies that can assist with legal job placement abroad.
The government opened new passport offices last week on Friday due to an increasing number of applicants who required the document for work or medical reasons, says Maung Maung Lin, a police officer from the Myanmar Passport Issuing Board who is based in Mon State.
Last year the government began taking steps to streamline the application process, reducing the waiting period from 21 days to 10 days to receive a passport. Application forms were condensed from 14 pages to five pages, while applicants were no longer required to submit documents proving they had fully paid their taxes.
With the new offices in states and divisions, applicants pay 20,000 kyats (US$20) in Rangoon for a passport and 25,000 kyats ($25) at other locations, due to extra processing fees. Passports are valid for five years and may be issued within three to five working days in certain cases, such as medical emergencies.
“Everyone with a National Identity Card and the original household registration card can apply for a passport,” Maung Maung Lin told The Irrawaddy. “There are already more than 50 people who have applied in Mon State.”
But former prisoners, including political detainees, must present additional documents and may be subjected to longer waiting periods, a senior official at the Myanmar Passport Issuing Board told The Irrawaddy last year.
One group that will likely benefit from the new passport services are Burmese citizens who plan to travel abroad as migrant workers, says migrants’ rights activist Tun Tun Lwin.
“Once they have a passport in hand, the process will not be costly anymore,” he said. But he added that it might still be a good idea to visit Rangoon before departure, to make use of official employment agencies that can assist with legal job placement abroad.