Barbadians no longer have to wait in long lines outside the Immigration Department to collect their passports.
Through a partnership between the Immigration Department and the Barbados Postal Service (BPS), they can have their documents delivered directly to them.
When applying for a passport, a person can choose to either have it delivered by the BPS’ Express Delivery Couriers for a $16 fee, or collect it at the Immigration Department in the BTI Corporate Centre, Princess Alice Highway, The City, as is customary.
During a brief signing ceremony to launch the passport delivery service, at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Webster’s Business Complex, Wildey, St Michael, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams said the decision to introduce the service followed a tour of the Immigration Department a few weeks ago, when there was a long line of people waiting in the sun.
He said he had spoken to a man waiting in that line who said he was in line the previous day, in the rain, but still did not get to the cashier before it closed.
The Minister said that just as embassies in Barbados use the BPS’ express courier to deliver visas, that service could also be used for passport delivery.
“It is optional. Some people may not want to pay the BDS$16. But the BDS$16 is just the cost to deliver the passport, the post office is not making any money from this. We are trying to make the post office relevant,” Abrahams explained.
“Once upon a time, people used to write letters, so the post as we know it consisted of delivering letters and packages and that market is naturally cutting down with emailing and instant messaging and what’s not.
“So, the post office needs to look at what it does deliver and make itself evolve with the times and make itself relevant to what Barbados needs now. So, if someone wishes to not select for their passport to be delivered by courier and wishes to come and collect it themselves then they can come and collect it. But having myself [stood] up outside the Immigration Department to collect a passport and having viewed what happened the other day, I think BDS$16 is a very small price to pay for not having to come into town and having it delivered to where you are,” he added.
Minister Abrahams shared that on Thursday, the BPS courier delivered a licence to someone at the beach because she was not at home, which was the intended delivery address.
“So, we have to get with it. This is a big step in the right direction,” he said.
Acting Chief Immigration Officer Margaret Inniss and Acting Postmaster General Valeta Best signed the documentation to formally launch the partnership between the Immigration Department and the BPS.
Inniss explained that if the courier failed to deliver a passport to an intended recipient over the course of two days, the document would be returned to the Immigration Department where the individual would have to go to collect it.
It was stressed that a passport would not be handed over to a third party, and Abrahams said all the necessary measures have been implemented to ensure the service is secure.
Just before 10 a.m. today, Kerry Ward made history when she became the first person to have her passport delivered.
A delighted Ward, who was at Warrens Great House, Warrens, St Michael, told members of the media that the service was convenient as it eliminated her “having to drive into town and look for parking and standing up in a line outside”.
“This is a great idea to have it delivered and I would recommend it to anyone,” she said. (AH)
