PICA System Upgrade Nearing Completion

The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) is assuring the public that normalcy will shortly return to its operations as the system upgrade that was initiated, consequent on the newly launched electronic passports (e-passports), is nearing completion.

Speaking on Tuesday (June 13) during Nationwide 90 Radio’s ‘Ask the Minister’ segment, PICA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andrew Wynter, noted that the engagement undertaken was “a significant system upgrade for us”.

“During the transition, we had a few bumps, and we are actually now coming out of the end of that. So, our full suite of [services] is now coming back on track, and I can assure the public that some of the delays that they have been experiencing will probably in the next few days, more or less, be behind us,” the CEO informed.

The e-passport is an electronic machine-readable document with an embedded microchip that stores a digital version of the holder’s biographical data.

The chip has a unique digital signature specific to each issuing country and is activated once encoded.

“Additionally, there is no longer a profession on the biodata page. I know that was an issue for a lot of persons. Most international passports have all your biographical data, but they do not have a profession,” Mr. Wynter informed.

He further indicated that the e-passport’s features will bring it in line with international standards.

The CEO reiterated that passports previously issued, prior to the April launch of the e-passports, remain valid until the expiration date, and assured that there is no need to change them. Upon expiration, the new e-passport will be issued.

Regarding implementation of the new passports, Mr. Wynter said one of the biggest challenges encountered in the transition is the significant increase in the volume of applications.

“Just Kingston alone, for the month of May, over 12,000 persons have applied for passports. All our locations are experiencing increases and even overseas, Jamaicans are applying back for their passports. That is why we have been ramping up our production and our production facilities to meet this demand,” Mr. Wynter said.

Consequently, he encourages persons to use some of the services available to them for greater convenience.

These include the Online Adult Passport Renewal service, which is accessible on the PICA website at http://www.pica.gov.jm. This allows customers to renew their adult travel document at any time, at their convenience and from anywhere globally.

There is also a Courier Service for document delivery to customers. Online and walk-in customers can opt for this service, which typically facilitates deliveries to any location locally and overseas.