Mozambicans in the U.S. “euphoric” with Nyusi’s response to biometric passports and ID cards request

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Mozambicans in the U.S. “euphoric” with Nyusi’s response to biometric passports and ID cards request

1:47 CAT | 03 Dec 2015

Jornal Notícias

The Mozambican community in the United States is “euphoric” over the issuing of new biometric identity cards and passports by the Ministry of Interior (MINT) which started last week.

MINT taskforces are in the United States registering and issueing identification documents to Mozambican citizens settled there, fulfilling a promise made by the President Nyusi in New York at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN Summit.

Domingos Jofane, National Director of Civil Identification, told Notícias that the process, underway at the Mozambican Embassy in Washington and in the Mozambican Mission at the United Nations, is proceeding satisfactorily, and will achieve the goals it has set itself.

So far, 49 applications for identity cards and 47 passports have been processed. Beneficiaries told Notícias that they are very happy with the process, not hiding their surprise at the government’s prompt response to their concerns relating to identification and travel documents.

Filomena Gustavo Langa, resident in the United States for several years, said that he was deeply grateful to the government because he had been calling for this initiative for a long time without success. He said that there were some who had come to believe that it would never happen. He called on the government to continue paying attention to Mozambican communities abroad. “With this gesture, it is clear that the government is committed to addressing the concerns of its citizens.”

Children of Mozambicans born abroad have difficulty getting registered for Mozambican identity documents in the country of their birth. Julião Timbana, who lives in Washington, says he is very happy with the issuing of documents, as he has been trying to register his children, who until now had no documents, for a number of years.

“Now we are Mozambicans both in fact and in law. I cannot contain my euphoria with the government’s initiative, which is why I decided to not only get my own documents but also to register the birth of my two children, born here in the United States,” he said.

Another of respondents is Benjamin Novela, who said he feared becoming unemployed because his passport had expired for some time. He stressed it was a great help because both his own and his wife’s passports expired last September, with little prospect of being able to return to Mozambique.

“The last time I went to Mozambique was in 2009. This process will help many people who like me have no plans to return to the country and so have to deal with important documents like these here. The initiative must be repeated more times, insofar as there will always be this need with respect to the processing of documents. Even the ones acquired now will expire, so these campaigns should be repeated on a regular basis,” he said.

On Sunday 6 December, the process will end in Washington and in the Mozambican mission to the United Nations. The taskforce will then depart for Ottawa (Canada), and then move on to Brazil, where it will remain until the 16th of this month.

Source: Jornal Notícias