The government of Liberia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has announced the opening of 20 new additional passport application centers intended to enable Liberians living abroad access Liberian passports without difficulty.
Making the disclosure yesterday, February 23, 2023 at the Information Ministry press briefing in Monrovia, Foreign Minister, Dee-Maxwell Kemayah stated that the new centers are intended to make “sure passports are brought to the doorstep of every Liberian.”
he explained that the government is however partnering with VFS Global, the world’s largest visa outsourcing and technology service specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide to run these newly opened passport application centers.
Kemyah noted, “VFS Global has its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, and Dubai, UAE and is widely recognized by over 140 governments around the world, as it is also a company that has been contracted and subcontracted by many European governments to handle visa and passport services on behalf of those governments.”
“The new centers for Liberia were simultaneously launched in USA, Atlanta and Houston; Canada, Toronto, Vancouver, Ontario and Edmonton; South America Brazil; Europe, Turkey, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France and Italy; Asia, South Korea and Japan; Africa, Senegal and Egypt; Middle East United Arab Emirates,” he said.
Minister Kemayah further that the new centers would increase revenue for the government, while ensuring that passport application and processing is brought to the doorstep of every Liberia national who needs a passport to travel or otherwise.
It can be recalled that on January 18, 2023, Minister Kemayah launched six centers in Chicago and Los Angeles in the United States; Nairobi, Kenya; Melbourne, Australia and New Delhi, India.
As part of the reforms, he further revealed that a new honorary consulate generals regulations was launched, noting that all current honorary consulate generals would relinquish their positions and reapply under the new requirements being set by the Ministry.
“Today, in fulfillment of my announcement, I am here to confirm that indeed the Government of the Republic of Liberia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened twenty additional centers to process passports. All of these are fully operating,” he added.
The Foreign Minister then called for collaboration between the Liberian community leaders and members in the areas where the passport application process was announced to broadcast the government’s initiative.
He added: “All of our Liberian diplomatic and consular missions abroad have been requested to work with Liberian communities in ensuring that Liberians are aware of this opportunity that they have long been requesting for.”
Source: africanentertainment.com
