Migrant workers will get a free passport in 20 days

Can you describe the new passport package for migrant workers and scholarship students?
The General Directorate of Identification is ready to process passports to help them work legally. There will be no charge for migrant workers and scholarship students if they bring a photograph of the right standard. They will get a free passport in 20 working days. The $4 refers only to the photograph.

Is this available now?
Although it was announced in June, the new package hasn’t started yet. Migrant workers must prepare all the documents and get an official signed letter from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. Scholarship students must get approval from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Like all citizens, they also need to present their national identity card and family book or birth certificate.

What are the costs for other Cambodians?
The normal price of a passport is around $124 and now that has been lowered to $104. The reason behind that is because passports don’t have an electronic chip at the moment. The system is being updated for future 10-year documents that will have a chip.

Many people have been left confused because the passport office moved to a new location. Why did it move?
It moved in May from [central Phnom Penh] to Ta Ngov village [known as Prek Pra village in Meanchey district], located about 3 kilometres from Chbar Ampov Bridge in Phnom Penh. The move was necessary to avoid traffic jams and provide more space. The former office was only a temporary location.

Interview Vandy Muong

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