Antigua and Barbuda extends deadline on recall of Machine Readable Passports

Antigua and Barbuda: Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced the extension of the deadline for the recall of Machine Readable Passports on December 20, 2023.

The extension has been made through the decision of the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda. Such a decision has been taken by considering the impacts of global events on the ability of citizens in the region and out of the region.

Considerably, the deadline for the recall of Machine Readable Passports was December 31, 2023 and the documents will become invalid from January 1, 2024, as per the previous announcement. However, now it has been declared that the passports will be valid until their expiration. Importantly, the passport office will continue to issue E-passports to new applicants and expired passports.

As the new E-Passports will be issued to the applicants, the application forms for the same has been released and are available at the Passport Office at various locations that are Queen Elizabeth Highway, the Antigua and Barbuda Missions in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.

For online registration, they can even refer to the official website of the Government that is www.ab.gov.ag . Also, detailed information can also be gathered by contacting the passport office in Antigua and Barbuda. The contact number for this is 462-0092.

Emphasizing on the introduction of E-Passports, these were first introduced in April 2017 in the region. The Machine Readable Passports were introduced in 2006 by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda. Further, to enhance the security, E-passports were introduced in 2017.

Significantly, the security features added to the E-passports will make the passport less susceptible to being replicated or if stolen, being used by another person. Also, the steps taken for the introduction of such passports add to the growth and development of the region.

As the E-platform will include the upgrade of the Registry in the digitized form, the birth dates, marriage certificates and death dates added as part of the upgrade will provide an aid in ascertaining the identity of the persons applying, which automatically strengthens the security.