To curb the shortage of passports at the Ministry of Immigration, the Government has allocated around $6 million to cater for the procurement of 200,000 passport books.
Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says the budget responds decisively to an issue that has affected thousands of Fijians both at home and abroad.
He says the Ministry of Immigration is provided a budget of $17.8 million.
Professor Prasad says this volume is expected to fully meet both the backlog and forecasted demand over the coming months and they anticipate that, with this intervention, the passport shortage will be normalized, and service delivery will be restored to expected standards.
He says they will also reduce the acquisition of Fiji Citizenship and passport fees from the current $3,450 to $1,500 for our diaspora who wish to acquire their Fijian citizenship and return to Fiji to live and invest effective from 1st of August.
