Over 144 thousand applications to be equipped with passports from January this year

Long lines of citizens were on Monday in front of sports at the Civil Recording Agency in Pristina for passport applications. Some of the citizens interviewing Radio Kosova say they are waiting for hours for application.

These long waits, they say, are also causing delays in their work.

We're waiting to continue the passport, I'm going home, then I'm back. I'm waiting for a passport. I've been here for half an hour, I have my number 146, and now in line it's 100. I believe that more than half an hour is required to wait”, a citizen has stressed.

Is that part hindering you from working?

We have to stop at work and give up the paperwork, but I have to wait, we have nothing to do! For documents, it must be expected 5 to 6 weeks in a regular manner, or should quickly be paid 100 euros”, the citizen has declared.

From January this year to this day, the number of Kosovo passport applications is 144 thousand and 225. In an electronic response to Radio Kosovo from the Office for Public Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of passport applications for the first time is 8 thousand and 38, and of them dominant is the 0-18-year-old age group, then 45-65.

Radio Kosova is also interested in Kosovo Serbs' applications to be equipped with the passport of the Republic of Kosovo, given that passports issued by the Co-ordination Centre will be allowed for travel with visa liberalisation, and for that, officials from the MPB have confirmed that there is an increase in interest in dealing with Kosovo documents compared to the previous years, but without specifying the number of applications.

Recently, the Civil Registering Agency has increased production capacities, in response, officials from the Interior Minister stress that they have enough material for documents, while saying they are working on eliminating citizens' expectations to be equipped with passports.