The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS) announced an increase in fees for services offered and national documents, effective from 19 July 2021.

In a media statement issued on Friday, the executive director of the ministry, Etienne Maritz said the increase is related to civil registration, identity management, citizenship, immigration and refugee management services.

“The increase in fees is necessitated by various factors, such as the enhancement of security features of passport booklets, visas and permits which resulted in higher procurement prices. The number of pages in the new passports will increase from 32 to 47 pages and the validity will also increase from five to 10 years. The identification (ID) cards will contain a machine-readable zone and a quick response (QR) code,” he said.

The ministry emphasised that many ID cards that were printed as duplicates remain uncollected at the ministry’s offices countrywide and called upon applicants to collect their documents without further delay.

“It must be noted duplicate national documents will also be charged incrementally. The last fee increase for these services and documents was in 2017,” stated Maritz.

Source: Namibia Press Agency