Govt of Bahamas to launch passport office in Exuma

Bahamas: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahamas declared today that Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis would officially inaugurate a passport office on Exuma on Friday, February 12, 2021.

The prime minister will be followed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield.

In a statement, the ministry said: “The Exuma Passport Office’s opening is a vital ministry initiative. It is the first installment of the government’s policy of de-centralizing the articulation of passport services to assure that citizens in the Family Islands are not haphazardly disadvantaged because they live outside of the island’s capital, where these services origin.

“Exuma citizens will no longer have to travel to Nassau at significant personal capital and difficulty to collect their passports. They will now be able to allow and profit from the full range of passport services in the island where they reside.”

The ministry added that “The Passport Office currently produces online registration for the renewal of e-passports for adults and minors. This has dramatically decreased the processing time for passports.

“Despite this, Family Islanders still have to travel to Nassau to complete their biometrics and assemble their passports. To remedy this inequity, the Bahamas’ government recommended opening satellite Passport Offices in Exuma, Inagua, Eleuthera, and Long Island.

“The Inagua Passport Office will open next month, followed shortly after that by opening offices in Eleuthera and Long Island.”

“In addition to the availability of these four satellite offices, the Passport Office will take its Mobile Passport Unit to other islands where there are smaller population groups, to ensure that all citizens throughout the archipelago profit from these services.”

The Exuma Passport Office will be placed in the Administrator’s Office in Georgetown.

The ceremony to be held this Friday will become the latest in a series of Family Island visits made by the prime minister in recent months for events ranging from infrastructure projects to Crown land donations and other official ceremonies.

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