PICA Taking ‘Access Jamaica’ Initiative to Atlanta

Jamaicans living in and near Atlanta, Georgia in the United States are set to benefit from a suite of services offered by the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) through its ‘Access Jamaica’ initiative.

PICA representatives and key partners, including the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), will be at the Exchange Park Recreation Centre located at 2771 Columbia Drive, Decatur, Georgia, from December 16 to18.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andrew Wynter, told JIS News that “we’ll be offering passport-related services, so persons can renew their passport or get a replacement if they have lost their passport”.

“Also, if they have children, they can apply for, renew or replace existing passports for them as well,” he added.

Mr. Wynter emphasised that a passport is “one of the most critical documents that Jamaicans want to have” and indicated that “we want to ensure that Jamaicans across the world can have access to this document”.

Individuals will also be able to apply for unconditional landing, the CEO also informed.

“This is for Jamaicans who have citizenship in more than one country and prefer to just have one passport. Once that stamp [authorising unconditional landing] is in their passport, they will be able to land and move in and out of Jamaica without any issue,” he explained.

Noting the Access Jamaica initiative’s importance, Mr. Wynter told JIS News that “we serve the Jamaican Diaspora, and it is important for Jamaicans living anywhere in the world to be able to access the products and services offered by the agency”.

“Through this initiative, we try to identify cities which we know are some distance from the nearest consulate and have a fairly large Jamaican population. There are some persons who will say, for example, that Chicago is not that far from New York; but in terms of arriving there, to get to the consulate on time, it makes it difficult. As such, we created this initiative to make our services more accessible to Jamaicans,” Mr. Wynter said.

Since commencing in October 2019, PICA has staged the event in Florida, Connecticut, Canada, and the United Kingdom, among other locations.

“This is a very unique opportunity for the agency. The very first Access Jamaica we did was actually in Atlanta in 2019, and it’s really a pleasure for us to revisit Atlanta. We’ve had a good turnout, and so I’d encourage everyone to come out to this event,” Mr. Wynter added.

Persons interested in accessing the services over the three days, must take their birth certificate, passport (in the case of a renewal), two passport-sized photographs that are notarised, and a completed passport application form.

Individuals who will be applying for citizenship by marriage will need to take their marriage certificate along with the other relevant documents.

Mr. Wynter told JIS News that applicants unable to get their documents notarised will be able to do so at the event, as “we have Justices of the Peace and photographers who will be travelling with the team”.

He added that once the applications have been submitted and requisite payments made, it will take approximately 25 working days for applicants to receive their passport.

The three-day event is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m.

Persons may pre-register for the event or download the application form by visiting PICA’s website at https://www.pica.gov.jm/.