Living Zimbabwe

Tag: Passport

  • Where can I find information about my Zimbabwe Passport application?

    Where can I find information about my Zimbabwe Passport application?

    We frequently receive emails from people with enquiries relating to Zimbabwe passport applications. These range from the status of passport applications submitted both at home and at overseas missions and how to apply for passports when faced with certain personal circumstances such as not having all the required documentation and so forth.

    Some of the emails that we have received include the following:

    • am calling to confirm if my passport is ready fr collection. i applied for it on the 4th of July and my receipt number is RG xxxxxxx.
    • pliz help me on this one i need passport but i do not have bith certificate i lost both and id what must i do
    • My passport is still valid and I want to apply for a new one since am left with about five months,the problem is I lost my id and can’t go back to zimbabwe anytime soon. So can I apply without any id using a valid passport in south africa. Pliz help
    • Hi there, would you have any info on how best to renew a Zim passport from the UK? My son is living there, and has been told by the embassy that the renewal of his passport will take 18 months. Thanking you for any leads

    Unfortunately these are queries that we can’t help with and all that we can do is to advise them (to the best of our knowledge) on how they can go about finding the answers to their questions. To that end, we got in touch with the Registrar General`s Office (via email) and asked them the best way in which people can contact them to get their queries answered. They got back to us within two days with their response being the following:

    Dear Sir/Madam

    We kindly acknowledge receipt of your communication.

    Clients may directly contact us on our helpdesk regarding any issues that concerns our department.

    Regards

    Registrar General`s Office

    So, if you have queries related to a Zimbabwe Passport, the RG’s office is the best place to go where there is someone on the other end of the line to receive your message. You can contact them via the following:

    Contact form on their website: http://www.rg.gov.zw/contactus
    Via email: helpdesk @ rg [dot] gov [dot] zw

  • The Frustration Of Applying For A Zimbabwean Passport From The UK

    The Frustration Of Applying For A Zimbabwean Passport From The UK

    I don’t get the Zimbabwean passport system! I am not usually one to comment on blogs but I am both dismayed and disgusted at the ridiculousness of the situation. I’m in the UK and I have lost my Zimbabwean passport, like most people on here. The consulate keep insisting I go back and get an ID card.

    Soooo let me get this right, I am expected to firstly pay for flights in excess of £1000, and let’s not forget accommodation as I have no links there so that will be whatever the daily changing rate is, not to mention food, water, and travel. God only knows how I am meant to get from A-B, and then the cost of both a new passport and the ID card and FINALLY fly back to England and hope and pray that border control will let me in because obviously my VISA won’t be stamped in my new passport! And even the Zim embassy cannot guarantee you will get back in they said it is a matter to take up with the Home Office Immigration (and we all know exactly how happy the current Government will be to lose a few immigrants).

    No, I am not playing the violin and I don’t want sympathy but I left Zimbabwe as a very young child I don’t know anyone there, and I cannot just ‘hey ho’ back to some unknown country for a little card and then face the possibility that the UK Home Office make it difficult for me to get back in.

    I have a little girl here and I cannot chance leaving her for who knows how long! I don’t really expect any advice from anyone here other than “go back” because truth be told that’s the only option we are given BUT I feel as a citizen I can vent (not that it will do me an ounce of good) but it is a stupid rule imposed by stupid people who really have not got the best interest of anyone other than themselves!

    We live in a time of economic crisis – who the heck can afford to make such an expensive trip plus all the costs? And what frustrates me further is having read other blogs some people have had their fingerprints done and passports issues in the UK so I think it’s a “help who we like” policy. The Consulate are unhelpful and when I called the man I spoke to blatantly gave me a false name. What a farce!

    I am seeking legal advice and Zimbabwe can keep its passport and absurd policies. I know there is another way round this because there always is another way and I just refuse to do it Zimbabwe’s way I would be happier to fork out £4000 into an immigration solicitors pocket and get my British passport than spend as little £1 on a country that clearly has no respect for her own people! I am sorry if that offends anyone but it’s the naked truth (in my eyes).

    Good luck to anyone else in a similar situation and I hope yours is a happier tale to tell of Zimbabwe and it’s frigged up system.

    This has been an anonymous submission by Frustrated Citizen.
    You too can become a Citizen Journalist by submitting your story here: Citizen Journalism by Living Zimbabwe
    The views expressed in the article are those of the author and not necessarily Living Zimbabwe.

    Zimbabwe-Passports-Diaspora

  • A Response To: “Applying For A Zimbabwean Passport Without An I.D. Card?”

    A Response To: “Applying For A Zimbabwean Passport Without An I.D. Card?”

    The following is a comment left by a reader in response to:

    “Applying For A Zimbabwean Passport Without An I.D. Card?”

    I post this only to try and help anyone about to go through this same ordeal…..this is from our hands-on experience. This is advice only, maybe each experience is different. One other word – keep your cool in Makombe building – I saw some outbursts, and they ended up with back-of-the-queue results, just fyi.

    We live in the Middle East. We had to go back to Zim to renew my wife’s passport – she was originally born in Harare, of South African-born parents. We spent 3 weeks back in Zim in July 2011, dedicated only to sort her pp out.
    Took 10 long visits to Makombe Building at least. I will reserve comments on the state of the building or attitude of its employees. Suffice to say that the requirements stated above are basically correct from our experience , but the actual experience is not so basic, and we experienced it as follows:

    Long Birth Certificate – essential.

    National Identity Card (Driver’s Licence Not Accepted). They will accept the green paper instead of the metal ID but you should have a photo attached with the ID number in the original photo.

    For Women, Marriage Certificate/National Identity Card in Married Name/Divorce Order

    Two Passport Colour Photographs (Size 3.5 x 4.5cm) (this is like the last step)

    Citizenship Certificate (For Citizens by Registration)
    THIS TOOK THE LONGEST TIME TO GET IN THE WHOLE PROCESS – IF YOU DON’T HAVE IT, AND HAVE PARENTS OF FOREIGN CITIZENSHIP AT THE TIME OF YOUR BIRTH REGISTRATION (it shows your parents nationality on your long birth certificate, hence the reason why you need the long one…), THEN BE PREPARED FOR THE RESPONSE THAT IT WILL TAKE 6 MONTHS and maybe it will (it took 2 weeks for us, but then I was very resilient, persistent, but always showing respect etc), unless you open every door in Makombe building and happen to meet someone who can help compress the timelines…..). don’t give up! IF YOU ARE OF FOREIGN DESCENT, YOU NEED TO GET COPIES (non-certified is ok) OF BOTH, I MEAN BOTH, OF YOUR PARENTS BIRTH CERTIFICATES AND FOREIGN I.D.s (I questioned this at length, but no logic was evident – seems you have to PROVE that your parents are foreign, which is actually why you are having to go through this crap in the first place….). By the way, for a very quick Comm of Oaths service, there is a very pleasant chap in Borrowdale (opp. TM over the road, part of the Car sales place – take the back entrance) who does instant certification for 1 US$ per doc, or 4 US$ for the swearing in of the Renunciation document). Oh, and once you get your fingerprints done (right outside the office number 100 where you make the first citizenship application) you have to take the form to be signed by a Police Station – try Milton Park, it is the closest, pay for the US$ 10 option (URGENT), not the US$5 option, but be prepared to wait for the Police lady to stamp & sign the forms…..

    Old Passport or Emergency Travel Documents If Any….when we eventually collected the new passport, we HAD to show them the old one – then, the lady at ‘the window’ just put 2 lines through the first page and handed it back….

    Letter on Citizenship Status from the country you have lived in for 5 years and more
    WE DIDNT NEED THIS, BUT WE HAD TO RENOUNCE HER FOREIGN HERITAGE AT THE SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY AS PART OF THE RENUNCIATION PROCESS (Very quick, and free at the SA embassy, they give you back a letter in 15 mins, kudos to them) BUT, AS I SAID ABOVE, THE MISSION IS TO GET THE ZIM CIT CERTIFICATE FIRST. And make like 3 CERTIFIED copies of all your documents, because they will ask for them at some point….

    There is probably more detail, but just be prepared, have all your ZIM ID, Birth certs (long form), copy passports etc ready to roll. Oh, and for the ‘official’ 24 hour final passport processing, it costs US $ 318. But, it is not done in 24 hrs necessarily, could be a week or so.

    Good luck, it is a crazy process, and keep the faith.

  • How To Identify A Fake Zimbabwean Passport?

    How To Identify A Fake Zimbabwean Passport?

    We recently received an email from an individual concerned about the validity of Zimbabwean passports issued by the Registrar General’s Passport Office. As per the email below, a friend of the individual was arrested and sentenced for being in possession of a fraudulent passport:

    [quote]It appears that some passports being issued by the Zimbabwean passport office to Zimbabwean nationals are not valid, despite a proper application being made and everything done “above board” as far as the applicant is concerned. A friend recently tried to use their passport for the first time and was detained by the authorities as the passport had certain “fake” aspects to it. They were accused by the UK authorities of deliberately obtaining a false passport and, as they were unable to prove otherwise are now serving a prison sentence.

    My question is how can innocent passport applicants have their passports checked for validity prior to use in order to avoid such prosecutions? Also for people falsely accused of obtaining a false passport, is it possible to gather any evidence of their innocence, given that any corruption within the passport office seems not to be taken into account in such cases?[/quote]

    A number of people have fallen victim to passport counterfeiters working within the Registrar General’s Office and unknowingly travelled using this documentation. As can be seen from above, this can cause a few issues for the innocent travelling public. That being said, does anyone have answers to the questions asked in the email?

    1. How can people verify the authenticity of a Zimbabwean passport?
    2. How can individuals charged with unknowingly obtaining a false passport prove their innocence?

    If you know the answers to these questions, please post them in the comments section below.

  • Applying For A Zimbabwean Passport Without An I.D. Card?

    Applying For A Zimbabwean Passport Without An I.D. Card?

    A number of people have emailed us questions related to applying for a new Zimbabwean passport from the diaspora. One question that comes up frequently is that of the need for a Zimbabwe National ID Card when applying for a passport as per the example below:

    [quote]My Passport expired and I lost my ID a few years ago here in the UK. How do I obtain my Zimbabwe National identification card while in the UK?[/quote]

    [quote]I am a Zimbabwean living in the UK. I lost my ID but I have to renew my passport. Can you please email me how I can go about gettting a Zim ID, preferably without having to go to Zim.[/quote]

    We got in touch with two Zimbabwean Consulates (one in the Asia Pacific region and the other in Europe) to find out if it was possible to apply for a new Zimbabwean passport without a National ID card. The response from both of them was that a passport application will not be processed without an identity card.

    All of the following documents and photocopies are required to be produced in person in order to process a passport application:
    [unordered_list style=”tick”]

    • Birth Certificate (long Birth Certificate)
    • National Identity Card (Driver’s Licence Not Accepted)
    • Marriage Certificate/National Identity Card in Married Name/Divorce Order
    • Two Passport Colour Photographs (Size 3.5 x 4.5cm)
    • Citizenship Certificate (For Citizens by Registration)
    • Old Passport or Emergency Travel Documents If Any
    • Letter on Citizenship Status from the country you have lived in for 5 years and more

    [/unordered_list]

    This situation can leave people who have lost their passports and are trying to apply for a renewal in what feels like a catch 22. This is because identity cards are only issued in Zimbabwe where registrants have to appear in person in order to get their photos and fingerprints taken.

    If you happen to be in a situation like this where you need a new passport but don’t have an I.D. card, the next best thing would be to apply for an emergency travel document and make your way to Zimbabwe and apply for the necessary documents.

  • Passport Office Corruption and Fraudulent Zimbabwean Passports

    Passport Office Corruption and Fraudulent Zimbabwean Passports

    It has been reported that the Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone is set to investigate alleged corruption at the Registrar General’s Passport Office. This includes paying for passports at inflated prices and/or having to pay in order to be served.

    The minister went on to say that she was not aware of such practises which is absolute rubbish! It is a known fact that in order to get served in a timely manner or even get served at all in government departments you have to be prepared to part with money to get service.

    Even though corruption in itself is bad enough, it is the least of people’s worries when it comes to dealing with the passport office. After spending all of that hard earned money of yours to get a travel document you could end up with a fraudulent travel document. Being in possession of a fake Zimbabwean passport or emergency travel document could get you into more trouble and stress than you bargained for (The consequences of being stopped with a fake travel document in or out of Zimbabwe can be left to your imagination).

    This is a Zimbabwe passport applicant BEWARE warning. Having to pay corrupt officials is the least of your worries. You need to be sure that you are getting a genuine document.

    Below is an image of the details page of a fraudulent Zimbabwean passport [sensitive information has been removed]. Can you spot any differences?

    (click on image for large view)

    Fraudulent-Fake-Zimbabwe-Passport

    Post idea and image of fraudulent document supplied by an anonymous contributor. Contribute to Living Zimbabwe.

  • The Harare Passport Office Experience

    To be frank, the Registrar-General’s Makombe building passport office experience was a ‘bitch’! Hoards of people, queues that at first didn’t make sense, civil servants full of attitude, soaring summer time temperatures, irritable applicants and the list goes on.

    When I first went over there to check what the price of a new passport was, it did not make much sense at all to me as to where to start off with the application process. There were queues and groups of people all over the place. One to pay for the application form and application fee, another to get this checked on the form after you have filled it out, another to get that checked on the form after you have gotten ‘this’ checked and another to submit the application after this and that has been checked. After that, depending on what type of application you put in, you return in 1, 3 or 14 days to collect you brand spanking new Zimbabwean Passport or ETD which you hope is not fake (we will get into that in another post).

    One thing that you should expect though is to not get you passport in the 1, 3 or 14 days. I have personally come across people who have put in applications for 24 hour passports at the start of one week and when they have gone back the next day to pick it up, they have been told to return the following week.

    It is not fun to be lining up outside at the height of summer to get your hands on an application form. You would think that it would be a bit more bearable once you get into the building but that is not the case. In the corridors you will find queues or people lining up to get into various rooms. There is no ventilation and it can be almost impossible to pass through various sections unless you literally push people out of your way in order to get through. All of that leads to tempers flaring with a few words being exchanged and on a couple of occasion fists being exchanged so you best be careful what you do and say.

    If you do not want to be driven completely insane, the best thing to do is to something that ever since way back when has always been done, get a hold of someone who works in the office and ask them to assist you. Their assistance will see you jump queues (maybe not all of them) and avoid the stress of pushing and shoving with people all day long to get the application through. For some it can be a very stressful experience and if you pay the office a visit, do not be surprised if you find someone in tears and not knowing what to do.

    It is extremely irritating for some to go through the hassles of trying to get a passport given that if you are a Citizen of Zimbabwe you have every right to have a passport and the process of getting one should not be as complicated and stressful as it is. Some put it down to not only beaurocracy but to the civil servants working in these and other government departments seeing themselves as being in a position of power where they can and may very well make life hell unless they are compensated accordingly. Who is to blame for this corruption and exploitation? Is the government, the civil servants or has society just taken up that frame of mind?