PICA to Offer Services at Diaspora Conference

The Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) will be offering a range of services, including passport and citizenship applications, during the four-day Jamaica Diaspora Conference, which gets under way on Sunday (June16) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James.

Speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, noted that PICA will be on hand as part of the Government at Your Service feature at the conference.

“We have our second, third and fourth-generation Jamaicans there and we will help them apply for their citizenship right there within the marketplace. It’s literally government at your service,” he said.

“You don’t need to be in the United Kingdom saying that ‘it has taken me a year or two years to get my citizenship; come here. The Register General’s Department (RGD) will do the tracing in terms of who your grandmother was, et cetera, and once you have the documents, we can get started,” Mr. Terrelonge said.

Director of Business Development and Communication at PICA, Kauna McKenzie, told JIS News that the entity will be offering services from June 17 to 19.

“PICA will be doing passport and citizenship applications and immigration services, which includes unconditional landing. We are also aiming for persons to collect their passports at the conference. We begin on Monday; you can pick up your passport on Wednesday. It’s a next-day service that we will be offering for those who attend,” she noted.

Ms. McKenzie said that persons who apply for their passport on the last day of the conference on June 19, will be asked to indicate where they want to have their document picked up.

“If you are still in Jamaica, you can make arrangements for your passport to be delivered at PICA’s Fairview office (in St. James) as well as we can make arrangements for your passport to be delivered to you anywhere in the world using courier services,” she said.

“We encourage persons to come and apply for their passports on the first day so that you can actually pick up your passport at the conference. To apply, it is the usual process and we will also be providing photography services, so PICA will take your passport-sized photos as well,” she pointed out.

Ms. McKenzie indicated that for citizenship services, which require a longer processing time, only applications will be facilitated at the conference.

“As it relates to unconditional landing under immigration services, persons will be able to get back their passport on the same day as it is a stamp in your passport,” she told JIS News.

Unconditional landing is a stamp placed in a foreign passport that allows the holder to remain in Jamaica unconditionally, while being able to attend school or work without having to obtain a student visa or a work permit.