JAMAICA | PICA to improve Passport and Citizenship Services to the Diaspora

WASHINGTON DC October 25, 2022: Chief Executive Officer of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) Mr. Andrew Wynter says the Passport Agency is putting in place a number of measures aimed at improving and enhancing the services of the agency to the Diaspora.

“We will be implementing a number of initiatives aimed at assisting the Diaspora as it relates to having a  smoother processing in applying for passport and citizenship by descent. These initiatives will be rolled out over time as they are now being fine tuned,” Mr Wynyer said.

Speaking at a meeting at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington with Ambassador Audrey Marks and her staff on Tuesday, Mr. Wynter said he, along with his five member delegation, would be in Washington for five days to assist the Jamaican embassy in streamlining its current passport processing system and to craft ways in which the working relationship between the Embassy and PICA 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 document 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 top issues as it relates to the diaspora was the matter of unusable photographs and “we are now working on a solution to address that problem. The PICA Chief also stressed that it was important that passport forms be properly completed in order for them to be processed. “When the forms are not completed properly it creates a compliance issue,” he emphasized.

Mr. Wynter encouraged members of the Diaspora who have machine readable passports that need to be renewed to do so online at the PICA website as this will make the process much 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 1:00pm when they will be accepting and processing applications for passport and citizenship.