Strides are being made and measures are being put in place to facilitate the upgrade of Grenada’s national passport, which will soon be fully electronic. This electronic switch will come with an increase in the cost of the passport along with some other benefits to travelers.

As of July 2018, the new E-passports will cost EC$175, a EC$50 increase from the current machine-readable one. However, the Barnacle News Team was informed that the E-Passport has a number of benefits, not just for travelers, but it makes the passport application process a bit easier for persons. In the current system, persons have to bring in their passport sized photos, which they get from a local photo studio along with the other required documentation. But, with the new system, persons can walk into the Immigration and Passport Department and get their pictures taken there at no additional cost.

The process of filling out the forms which have to be authenticated by a Justice of the Peace (JP), as well as the 3-day waiting period to get the passport will remain the same. Also, the new E-passport will now have 36 pages, as opposed to the now 32. During the transition period, there will be a 2-day lapse, when no passports will be produced, but the services are expected to be expedited upon resumption.

Speaking to the Barnacle News Team on Wednesday 16 May 2018, was Inspector Leroy Joseph who is responsible for the Immigration section of the Immigration and Passport Department. According to him, this change from the machine-readable passports to the Electronic Passport (E-Passport) is necessary, as the current one is becoming obsolete. “This is the direction the world is going.”

According to Joseph, the main benefit of the E-Passport is for nationals to have access to automated clearance at the airports when moving across borders, thus creating an ease of travel. It is also specifically aimed at “facilitating the freedom of movement of people, goods and services in order to foster integration and socio-economic development.”

Grenada has been using machine-readable passports since 2001, and, prior to that the passports were handwritten. This new electronic or biometric passport system, according to Joseph, will enhance the security of the passport with its embedded electrical chip, which has the information of the passport holder. Although there have not been any instances of fraud with Grenada’s passport, as indicated by Inspector Joseph, “the biometric passport has become mandatory for Government to reinforce security features in national borders,” and, it is designed in such a way that it makes it “more difficult to change data recorded on a passport, and therefore, limits the chance of fraud.”

The E-passport “will meet the international civil and aviation standard [and] it is expected that Grenada’s E-passport will run higher in its projected state,” Joseph stated. Notably too, he stated that this E-passport is currently implemented in several OECS and CARICOM countries, and Grenada will not be left behind.

Despite the EC$50 increase, Inspector Joseph remains adamant that the transition will be smooth. He stated that the actual cost should have been EC$375, but, Government opted to subsidize the cost to EC$175.

As the entire nation prepares for the new system to be put in place, the staff at the Immigration and Passport Department will be undergoing training sessions in order to get themselves familiarized with it. Some time in June, representatives from the Canadian Bank Note (CBN), will be coming to facilitate these training sessions. According to Joseph, CBN is a very reputable company and has been working with Grenada since 2001.