PICA Implementing Measures to Improve Services to the Diaspora

Chief Executive Officer of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), Andrew Wynter, says the agency is putting measures in place to improve and enhance its services to the diaspora.

“We will be implementing several initiatives aimed at assisting the diaspora as it relates to having a smoother process in applying for passports and citizenship by descent. These initiatives will be rolled out over time, as they are now being fine-tuned,” he said.

Mr. Wynter was addressing a meeting with Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks, and her staff at the Jamaican Embassy in Washington DC on Tuesday (October 25).

The PICA CEO and a five-member team will be in Washington DC for five days to assist the Jamaican Embassy in streamlining its passport processing system and to craft ways in which the working relationship between the entities can be improved.

“One of the key points that we want to work on is to ensure that persons, when they are submitting their applications, submit the right documents and to ensure that the application is completed properly so it will not cause any delay when it comes to PICA to be processed,” Mr. Wynter said.

He pointed out that one of the key issues as it relates to the diaspora is the matter of unusable photographs and “we are now working on a solution to address that problem”.

He said it also important that the passport forms are properly completed for them to be processed.

“When the forms are not completed properly it creates a compliance issue,” he pointed out.

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Mr. Wynter encouraged members of the diaspora who have machine-readable passports that need to be renewed to do so online through the PICA website, as this will make the process easier.

The PICA CEO is expected to be one of two guests on ‘Let’s Connect with Ambassador Marks’ on Thursday where he will address diaspora members’ questions and concerns in relation to the processing of applications and other services offered by PICA.

The PICA team will also be present at the Embassy of Jamaica’s Culture Fest at the Organization of American States (OAS) on Saturday (October 29) beginning at 1:00 p.m. when they will be accepting and processing applications for passport and citizenship.

PICA Implementing Measures to Improve Services to the Diaspora

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