Manama: The General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) has launched the Online (Passport Renewal Service), in conjunction with the eGovernment Authority (eGA), through the national portal www.bahrain.bh.
This was announced during a Press conference held at the Public Security Officers Club by the officials of the NPRA.
“This another step towards easing services being offered by the NPRA to citizens,” Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa AlKhalifa Assistant Under-Secretary for Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs at the Interior Ministry, said, adding that initially it would take five working days to process the renewal application and the time would be reduced gradually.
Highlighting the importance of co-operation between the eGovernment and the NPRA, Shaikh Ahmed said applauded the efforts of eGA in making this automated passport renewal service up and running.
Shaikh Ahmed was joined by Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Director Passports, and Naif Al Sharooqi, Director Human Resources and Finance.
The new service is part of NPRA initiatives aimed at streamlining and simplifying the process for services across all government entities for citizens.
This eservice allows citizens to apply for passport renewal and enquiry about the application status at any time throughout the year, which has been previously available only during the regular working hours. When the status of the application has been updated, the applicant should come in person once only to collect the new passport after completing all requisite formalities and online follow-up, along with the possibility to submit requests for any family members as well, provided that the user should be part of the most immediate family members such as husband, wife, son and daughter, and other requirements indicated in the web page should be met.
“This cooperation with eGA is designed to increase process efficiency adopted by easing congestion and dissipating long queues, as part of our plan to put in place a vision for excellence to ensure the delivery of long-established corporate services based on competitiveness and high quality standards in the area of Nationality, Passports and Residence, with a core focus on implementing the strategy which was developed to shift the directorate towards the next-generation of eservices as a leading institution in its area of specialization, perfectly aligned with the underlying principles of the vision of the Ministry of Interior, which focuses on part on the utilization of technology and modern systems in areas covering security, building bridges of communication with all segments of society to give expressions to the concept of community engagement, fostering cooperation and coordination with other government bodies,” he added. “The service will pass on benefits to all citizens.”
He also highlighted the importance of launching the Passport Renewal eservice targeting wide segments of society and contributes in reducing operating and administrative costs, with full respect for privacy and security.
Shaikh Ahmed said that the purpose is to deliver comprehensive services and foster partnership with government entities, with a core focus on achieving excellence in the next generation of services and delivering high-quality and efficient services in line with the national strategic vision.
The Passport Renewal eservice is designed to minimize the necessary duration for the delivery of the transaction that will be carried out within five minutes maximum after it used to be made in about three hours.
The necessary steps are minimized to carry out this service from seven to four steps and manual payment has been cancelled and replaced by e-payment secured by encrypted communication. One individual can register all his family members in one application once all requirements have been met.
“The service provides an efficient mechanism for tracking the application status, scheduling of customer appointments, making arrangements and balancing workflow compared to the number of passports issued, with the possibility that application losses will be minimized.”
To benefit from this eservice, the applicant needs to register at the first level of the (eKey) system at Bahrain.bh and the applicant should meet the following requirements: Bahraini, minimum 18 years old and a resident of Bahrain, along with other terms and conditions available on the website.
The passport for renewal should not be stolen, lost, diplomatic or special passport, and that the name on the passport should be exactly the same as the name of the passport holder.
It is worth-mentioning that the passport renewal may be made six months prior to the date of its expiration and up to eight years upon the date of expiration ,provided that renewal for individuals over 21 years old should be each ten years, and renewal for individuals less than 21 years old is each five years.
For suggestions, enquiries or complaints about the service may be submitted through Tawasul, the National Suggestions and Complaints System, noting that the eservice does not mean that the service is to be cancelled by conventional methods.