IN an effort to ensure the integrity of the machine-readable passports, the Ministry of Home Affairs has introduced another security feature.

A release from the Guyana Police Force has directed new applicants to ensure they walk with their birth certificates to aid in the process of their acquiring a machine-readable passport. The release specifies that the applicants’ birth certificates must have been issued no longer than six months prior to their applying for the new machine-readable passport.

When contacted, Senior Police Superintendent Dale Alves, head of the Immigration Department of the Guyana Police Force, told the Guyana Chronicle that the directive on the new requirement came from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

While not being able to confirm the real reason behind the new directive, he opined that the arrangement is to ensure the integrity of the passports when issued.

Asked about the instances of fake documentation being presented to immigration officers at the ports of entry and at the Central Immigration Office in Georgetown, Alves said that was not an issue at the listed places.

He, however, confirmed to this publication that, just over a month ago, a Chinese national flying from China was not allowed to enter this country, but was immediately deported, after it was discovered that he was tendering fake documents. Alves explained that for that man to ever enter Guyana legally at a later date, that man would need to obtain written permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs.(Leroy Smith)