Starting September 01st, 2012 Dominican nationals will be required to pay more for passport services.
Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit made the announcement to Parliament during his 2012/13 Budget presentation this week.
The Prime Minister says since the implementation of the CARICOM passports a few years ago Government has been absorbing the cost.
“The new CARICOM passports were made available to citizens at the price of the ‘old’ passports when the former was introduced. The price [for] citizens was less than the cost to the Government, but Government wanted to ensure, that all citizens had the opportunity to obtain the new passport.”
The Prime Minister said the increase in the passport fees has become necessary.
“At this time, Government is pursuing further efficiencies, with the introduction of the equipment to electronically read the passports. Given these improvements, it is proposed that the price for passports be increased,” PM Skerrit said.
The proposed rates according to Prime Minister Skerrit are as follows:
- Passport for adults from $100 to $150
- Passport for children from $50 to $75
- Seaman Passport from $33 to $100
- Travel Permit from $10 to $20
- Certificate of Identity from $20 to $30
- Emergency Passport from $20 to $30
Effective January 1st 2008, all Dominican passports have been issued at the Immigration Department, Police Headquarters in Roseau, Dominica.
The new CARICOM passports are machine-readable and conform to international standards.
The new passports are blue in color replacing the old green passports.