Tomorrow Friday, October 31, 2014 marks the official recall date of all non-machine readable passports.
Last year the Cabinet of Ministers agreed that the October 31, 2013 deadline for the national recall of non-machine readable passports had been extended to the end of October 2014.
In 2007 the Government of Saint Lucia took the decision to support the introduction of Machine Readable Passports for the citizens of Saint Lucia. In March of that same year, the Saint Lucia Immigration Department began to issue the Machine Readable Passports to citizens of Saint Lucia.
This new system is in compliance with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO, the organization that governs the specifications and guidelines for travel documents. The introduction of the Machine Readable Passports is to enhance the security of travel documents to avoid counterfeiting and fraudulent alterations.
Citizens of Saint Lucia who presently carry non-machine readable passports will be required to apply for a machine-readable passport at the Immigration Department on Bridge Street, Castries before October 31, 2014. Machine Readable Passports (Regular) costs $80 and Machine Readable Passports (expressed service) $130.00.Those existing fees will remain, however replacing a non-machine readable passport with a machine readable passport after the October deadline, will attract a fee of $200.00. At the end of the recall, citizens of Saint Lucia will not be permitted to travel with the non-machine readable passports.
