The Registrar General’s Office has opened an Express Passport Issuing Office at its Harare offices which allows individuals to complete an application form and collect their passport within 48 hours.
The applications are done through an online booking system, with the document ready for collection within 48 hours. Terence Mutemerarwa, the manager at Express Passport Office, said:
When the E-passports were launched last year it was made clear that they will be two categories of applications.
The one with a 7 day turn around which we started with and now we have introduced the Express Centre that issues passports in 48 hours from the time of applications.
Applicants use an online booking system to avoid congestion which had characterised these offices.
What it means is that they are now two ways of applying for a passport which is the one which takes 7 days and this one which takes 48 hours.
The Government said people will be able to apply for the e-passport at more locations within Zimbabwe, starting with Chitungwiza and then followed by Bulawayo.
The Government has “already identified 15 embassies where the online services will be deployed”, with South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) among them.