As the Somaliland PIO Colonel Ambaro acknowledges extended waiting period for applications processing
By: Latifa Yusuf Masai
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – Citizens applying for the new e-passport will have them delivered in a week.
This was revealed by the Somaliland principal Immigration Officer –PIO Colonel Mohamed Ali Yusuf ‘Ambaro’ at the immigration Hqs in Hargeisa where VP Sayli applied for replacement of his old passport to the new electronic one.
The PIO w
ho informed that his department has issued over 3000 passports since the launch of the electronic version mid last month urged citizens to bear with the short delays which are occasioned by the large numbers of applications.
“We used to issue the old passport in a day or two but applicants will have to wait a week for the new one” said Col Ambaro
After filling his applications form VP Sayli who did not have to wait a week for his new passport told Somalilanders that acquiring their country’s travel document was a right enshrined in the constitution.
The e-passport that is reported to have cost the central coffers $1m was launched by president Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo on 10th Sept this year when he became the first citizen to discard the old book form PP and secure the Electronic one.
Since Somaliland remains internationally unrecognized as a sovereign country only a few friendly countries among them Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and South Africa accept the Hargeisa issued Passport as a valid travel document.
