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Senior Reporter
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles is demanding answers from Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander over ongoing passport delays, claiming citizens attempting to book appointments are now being assigned dates as far away as April 2027.
Beckles is also questioning whether Government received a promised shipment of 48,000 passport booklets that was expected to arrive in September, amid claims that supplies at the Immigration Division remain critically low.
Speaking at an Opposition news conference at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Beckles said citizens were being forced to wait months just to secure an appointment, followed by additional delays before receiving their passports.
“I want to ask any member of the public: you can go online as I’m speaking and make an appointment for your passport, and at this point in time you will get April 27, 2027. That’s the appointment date. Then you also have to wait to receive the passport,” Beckles said.
Her comments come days after Guardian Media reported growing frustration among passport applicants, some of whom said they had been waiting up to four months to receive their documents.
Sources within the Immigration Division have also alleged that passport booklet stocks remain critically low, despite previous assurances from Alexander that there was no shortage.
In July, the Ministry of Homeland Security disclosed that 50,000 machine-readable passport booklets had been received in October 2025 and a further 12,000 in June 2026.
The ministry also said approximately 48,000 additional booklets were expected to arrive in September.
However, Beckles yesterday questioned whether that shipment arrived and why lengthy delays continue to affect applicants.
“We need to ask the minister: did you receive the 48,000 passports?” she said.
“But you also need to tell us why it is taking almost 17 weeks for a person to get a passport appointment. I am asking this Government to come clean and tell us whether there is a problem.
“Have you received those 48,000 passports? Are you going to receive the additional 100,000 passports by the end of the year? And what measures have you put in place to address the situation?”
She also challenged Government to explain why applicants were experiencing extensive delays while the Immigration Division’s website continued to advertise a standard processing time of four weeks and expedited processing within three to seven business days.
Guardian Media previously sought clarification from Alexander on whether the September shipment had arrived, the current passport inventory and the reasons for the continuing delays. However, he did not respond.
Meanwhile, Beckles raised questions about the status of Government’s proposed electronic passport system.
She claimed that a contract with a company that had supplied passports to Trinidad and Tobago for more than two decades was terminated after the United National Congress assumed office.
According to Beckles, a new procurement process began in March, but she said the Government had provided little information on its progress.
With the Christmas travel season approaching, Beckles urged Government to reassure citizens awaiting their travel documents.
“It is almost eight months now, and I would like the minister to tell us the status of the procurement of this e-passport system they have been boasting about,” she said.
“I would also like him to give the population the assurance that this matter has been addressed and that they understand its sensitivity. People are travelling for Christmas. But even if you are not travelling, your passport may have expired, and this is a normal service that citizens should be able to access.”
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