The restructuring of the passport office into an executive agency has been delayed. The office on Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew, was slated to become a full-fledged executive agency on April 1, but this has been put on hold for a few months, chief immigration officer and permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Gilbert Scott, told TheGleaner yesterday.

Mr. Scott said the setback was primarily due to a delay in obtaining an approval from the Ministry of Finance and Planning, which has prevented the agency from appointing a chief executive officer to head the organisation.

Recruitment drive

But the agency, which is to be renamed the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, is to be on track in a few months.

Mr. Scott acknowledged that the agency has been on a recruitment drive to expand the services of the passport office.

"There will be some growth in some areas not occasioned necessarily by the agency, but more in responding to the demand based on the projections for growth in passenger levels and that sort of thing," said Mr. Scott.

The Gleaner understands that some 300 more officers are being recruited to strengthen the services of the office and to increase its emphasis on border security.

He noted that among the services to be strengthened are passport services, with the implementation of a number of new security features to improve the security of the document and stricter control of passport issuance.

The issuance of CARICOM passports, which should have taken off in January, is to be undertaken once the office has been fully restructured.