Cabinet Approves Payment Of Passport Fees In Forex

The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe has said that Cabinet has approved the request to allow those with free funds to pay for their passports in foreign currency.

Speaking to members of the media on Tuesday following a Cabinet meeting, Kazembe Kazembe said:

That has been approved by Cabinet and we are waiting for the Statutory Instrument to be in place. We have received requests from various people with free funds and we are waiting for the Statutory Instrument to be in place then we can allow them.

Speaking at the same event, Information and Publicity Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa announced that the Treasury had availed US$6 796 500; 580 200 Euros and ZW$11 781 900 towards meeting the cost of clearing the passport backlog.

She also announced that passport fees had been reviewed up as follows:

• ordinary currently pegged at $53 be increased to ZW$150
• emergency passports and $253 be increased to ZW$600.
  

The passport backlog which dates back to 2018 is reportedly at 400 000. This has allegedly promoted corruption at the Registrar General’s office as the desperate passport seekers would do anything necessary and unnecessary to get the travelling document.

The deteriorating state of affairs has coerced Zimbabweans to apply for passports as they, at all costs, want to escape the crisis.

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