NEW BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS FOR LIBERIA - $50.00 FIVE YEARS RENEWAL‏

Liberians may use the existing passports until April 2010 when the new biometric national passports will be required.


…To Replace Old Ones



MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia (GOL) will formally launch
the new national biometric passports at the Ministry of foreign Affairs
Monday, November 2, 2009 on Capitol Hill.
The new passports will meet the global requirements of the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Biometric Machine
Readable Passports to be in effect by April 2010.

The passports are categorized as follows: ordinary, diplomatic,
official and service. The new ordinary Liberian biometric passport will
be valid for five years, while the new diplomatic and official Liberian
Biometric Passports shall be issued for two years, consistent with
existing guidelines. Service passports shall be issued for one or two
years, depending on the mission for which they are being issued.

All Liberians are entitled to travel a document which is the
Ordinary Passport, without discrimination. All passports will be issued
in Monrovia at a price of US$50 each. All applicants in the country are
required to physically appear at the Division of Passports and Visas of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to process their passports.

According to the ministry, applicants residing abroad may continue
to use their current passports until the Data Collection Points at
designated embassies are set up for processing passport applications.
Notification dates for these will be forthcoming.

Accordingly, documentation, including forms and fingerprints will
be processed at their various data collection points at designated
embassies and forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for issuance
of passports.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has forwarded samples
of the new National Biometric Passports to the various embassies near
Monrovia as well as to its embassies overseas. Copies have also been
sent to Liberia’s Permanent Mission in New York for onward presentation
at the United Nations to countries that do not have embassies in
Liberia.







21 persons were appointed or reappointed as Honorary Consuls to countries covered by relevant Liberian Embassies:



· Carl Ostergaard, Honorary Consul , Denmark , Berlin , Germany

· Bernard Martineau, Honorary Consul , France , Paris , France

· Alexander Soutos, Honorary Consul , Greece , Paris , France

· Michael Gigilinis, Honorary Consul , Greece , Paris , France ;

· Kimani Mathu, Honorary Consul , Kenya , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia

· Vincent Van Den Bogaert, Honorary Consul, Luxemburg, Brussels , Belgium

· Antonio Jose Ferreta de Carvalho, Honorary Consul General , Portugal , Paris , France

· Requel Lucia Perez Brito, Honorary Consul , Spain , Paris , France

· Alejandro Munnariz, Honorary Vice Consul , Spain , Paris , France

· Antonio Arenas, Honorary Vice Consul , Spain , Paris , France

· Ralph Klinger, Honorary Consul , Switzerland , Paris , France

· Mohammed Bashir, Honorary Consul General , Switzerland , Paris , France

· Michael Koelsch, Honorary Consul , Germany , Berlin , Germany

· Klaus Krichner, Honorary Consul , Germany , Berlin , Germany

· Jan Miller, Honorary Consul , Germany , Berlin , Germany

· Henrique Benson, Jr., Honorary Consul , Germany , Berlin , Germany

· Robert David Blick, Honorary Consul , United Kingdom , London , United Kingdom

· Cynthia Nash, Honorary Consul , Georgia , USA , Washington , D.C.

· Jean-Pierrot Mahir, Honorary Consul General , Cameroon , Cameroon

· Shawky Hemeidan, Honorary Consul , Zambia , South Africa

· Thelma Traub Awori, Honorary Consul General , Uganda , Ethiopia , respectively.

Government Institutes Several Tough Measures:


· Honorary Consuls will not receive Liberian Diplomatic passports

· Appointments will now be for three years only
and will be renewed thereafter following appraisal of their performance
and their contribution to Liberia 's Poverty Reduction Strategy,
popularly referred to as "Lift Liberia ."