28 Jun 2018

The Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs has embarked on a drive to address administrative challenges to the services it provides.

In a statement to Parliament on June 28, the Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Ms Dorcas Makgato said with regards to applying for Omang cards, the ministry had resolved to do away with the requirement for applicants to bring witnesses who were 10 years older than them in cases where the applicants’ dates of birth had been captured as XX/XX for the dates to be captured as 01/01 (January 1).

Ms Makgato said the move was adopted after realising that the requirement for witnesses aged 10 years or older to verify applicants’ date of birth was problematic.

In addition, the minister stated that the ministry had since moved away from compelling Omang applicants to remove their headgear, but rather to push it away from the forehead in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

She said the National Registration Amendment Act of 2017 that introduced specifications for a photograph for an Omang card had created ambiguity and clashed with some communities’ religion and culture.

Ms Makgato also pointed out that the ministry no longer confiscates Omang cards from the public unless obtained fraudulently.

The minister stated that the ministry further intended to facilitate Batswana holding dual citizenship when the time came for them to renounce one of the citizenships.

She said for those individuals who had never taken citizenship of the other country, the renunciation process would be done through completion of a renunciation form requiring the deponent to denounce the citizenship of the other country.

She said the form would have a portion for persons not sure of whether or not they were citizens of the other country by virtue of the citizenship laws of that other country.

She noted that the envisaged process would reduce the turnaround time since applicants would be assisted immediately as compared to the current three to six months.

For those people who had not taken up the citizenship of the other country and had failed to renounce upon attainment of the age of 21, Ms Makgato said the ministry would facilitate them to resume citizenship in terms of Section 17 of the National Registration Amendment Act but would be exempt from the current administrative requirements of producing a valid passport of the other country.

The minister indicated that in addressing the problems, the ministry would ensure that affected persons were assisted within the limits of the law, adding that each case would be looked at within its special circumstances.

Notwithstanding the new arrangements, she said the ministry would continue to strengthen public education and awareness to ensure that the affected persons renounced timeously in line with the law.

Ms Makgato explained that the efforts were meant to improve efficiency as well as to ensure that every qualified Motswana had a valid identity card by September 3 this year. She pointed out that the ministry was committed to facilitating the movement of people across borders to promote investment, tourism and relations with other countries. To this end, she observed the ministry had experienced impediments to delays in the issuance if VISA as well as the work and residence permits.

She said the ministry had since decided to decentralise VISA processing to embassies, consider provision of VISAs at port of entry, automatically grant VISA to applicants who had been granted work and residence permits, delegate certification of documents to Commissioners of Oaths and to increase wind up period from 30 days to six months. ENDS