Patients who need a passport to travel to abroad have to go through complicated administrative procedures these days. To obtain a passport, patients’ families must prove that the patient needs to travel abroad. To go through the certification process, they must go to the Department of Laws and Review of the Ministry of Public Health, so that after certifying, they can go to the Passport Department.
The influx of hundreds of patients and the low capacity of this department have caused confusion and anxiety among the clients. Naimgol, an old man, has come to the law department to certify his bride’s health. He says there is no one to even guide him properly. According to Naimgol, his bride, who has a female problem, has not been treated in the country and needs to travel abroad for treatment. “The woman is undecided, patients are confused, I am undecided, everyone is confused and undecided, we do not know what to do, we have come here to proceed with administrative procedures,” said the old man.
Naimgol looks tired and talks to Juma Khan, who is sitting next to him, about his problems: “We had to come here. The passport office is busier than here. Let’s see when I can get a passport for my patient.”
Naimgol says it takes at least three weeks to prepare a certificate and get a letter from the Ministry of Public Health’s Department of Law, which is a time-consuming process.
According to official information, a person who has a patient and wants to get a passport for his patient must write a petition addressed to the Ministry of Public Health. Applicants then receive a verdict, followed by a special form. In this form, the law department designates a public hospital in which the patient’s records are reviewed by a specific commission. This commission is held only on Wednesdays. After approval by the commission, the law department writes a letter to the passport department to issue a passport to the patient.
After a month and a half of suspension, the Passport Authority announced on Tuesday, October 5, that the issuance of passports would resume. According to Alamgol Haqqani, head of the passport department, passports are to be issued to previously registered applicants, patients, government employees on official trips, businessmen, invitation holders and foreigners, military and civilians wounded during wars, scholars and athletes to participate in international competitions.
The department has also posted instructions on its Facebook page for applicants who have already registered. According to this, the applicants have been asked to visit this department on a specific date. According to this schedule, in the next two months, passports will not be issued for those who have not registered previously. According to the passport department, they issue 6,000 passports per day.
Juma Khan’s son suffers from anemia. He also came to the law department with his son’s medical records to get a valid certificate. “It is not the fault of the employees and the department,” Juma Khan said. “Hundreds of people have come here. To reach so many applicants, the department needs more facilities and employees.”
Juma Khan’s son is one and a half years old. He says he has spent most of his income on his son’s treatment but has not yet received a positive result. Juma Khan plans to take his son to Pakistan for treatment after obtaining his passport. “I wish we had facilities inside the country, then there would be no need for us to go abroad,” he said. “We have no choice but to travel abroad.”
Women and children also visited the law department. Some women are trying to get certification by enduring hardship and confusion.
Shabana, a resident of Maidan Wardak, also came to the law office. She says she has a stomach problem that cannot be treated domestically. “We came from Maidan Shahr in the morning, we went to the passport office,” Shabana said. “It was very crowded. They tore up our letter as to why it was not approved by the Ministry of Health. Now we are here to get a certificate letter.”
She came to the law department with her older sister Abeda. Shabana’s sister, says that the confirmation process, which used to take half an hour, now takes a day because the department cannot handle so much workload. The two sisters are determined to go through the process of obtaining a passport.
In this regard, we wanted to have the opinion of the Department of Laws and review of the Ministry of Health, but we did not succeed.
[box type=”info” align=”alignleft” class=”” width=””]Hussain Haidari, Hasht-e Subh Persian[/box]