The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the new passport model will not be ready for use by September 1.

The Colombian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the new passport issuance model will not be ready to begin operating on September 1st, as announced by the National Government. This is due to the timeframe stipulated in the agreement between the National Printing Office and the Portuguese Mint.

The entity described the start of operations on that date as "unfeasible." This had already been warned by several political figures, including outgoing Foreign Minister Laura Sarabia, who, among other things, asserted that, as long as she remained in office, Colombians would not be left without passports.

This information contrasts with what the Presidential Office has said since last week that the passport issuance process will not be interrupted by the end of the temporary partnership with Thomas Greg & Sons, which, according to Alfredo Saade, would be required to print thousands of passports for the government to process.

The information was revealed in response to a petition filed by Senator Angélica Lozano, asking for this date as the start date for the National Printing Office in charge of these procedures.

According to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this agreement was approved on February 28. However, the agency found several disagreements with its terms because " it is necessary to mature technical and budgetary aspects, as well as sign an Inter-Administrative Agreement in accordance with our General Contracting Statute."

In the same text, the entity asserts that the timing required by the Mint in Portugal would not coincide with the start of operations in Colombia on September 1. This is based on the fact that, according to the schedule, this event would occur up to 35 weeks after the signing of the agreement between the two printing houses.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that, for this reason, the signing of a manifest emergency measure had been proposed to give the National Printing Office time to obtain the technical requirements for issuing passports.

During that time, the Ministry would be responsible for "governing the data used for passport personalization and distribution," while the Travel Documents 2025 temporary union would be responsible for producing and supplying the booklets.

Senator Lozano, to whom the response to her petition was addressed, asserted that the government is "improvising" in this case, which has generated controversy in recent weeks. According to her, this could trigger an institutional crisis in the issuance of passports, and "that could leave Colombia without passports in September," she stated.

In addition, she emphasized that the Foreign Ministry is preparing for the manifest urgency and accused the Ministry of the Interior of preparing a decree "that would facilitate the direct contracting of a private company to produce passports." This, according to the Senator, would exacerbate a crisis that is already becoming evident, as "appointments to obtain passports are running out."

The contract with the issuer expires on August 31st, and it is still unclear what will happen with this process . The government does not view an extension to the agreement with the company favorably. Nor has it given a concrete decision on how passports will be issued starting September 1st, while a lack of capacity on the part of the National Printing Office is cited.

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