The Minister of Internal Affairs announced the intention to amend the law in order to extend the validity of the passport from five to ten years, following the announcement made by the Federation of Romanians’ Associations in Europe (FADERE) that if the issue of the queues for passports will not be solved, it will file a complaint.
“We have filed an initiative to amend the law. We want to extend the validity of the passport from five to ten years,” Minister Carmen Dan told Antena 3 TV.
Regarding this issue, the Interior Ministry has informed that it is working to make the process operational, underlining that the lack of staff is also felt in these services, the ministry being forced to prolong the work schedule and to postpone the employees’ leave.
“It is true that during the summer months the number of applications exceeds by 80-90% the values in the rest of the year, and in some counties the number of applications doubles during this period. Unfortunately, this significant increase cannot be accompanied by the doubling of the number of counters or by the doubling of staff working on passport services. The lack of staff is also felt in these services, and on this background, we have had to extend work schedules, postpone the holidays this summer for many employees, or find alternatives regarding the facilities to issue passports,” MAI informed in a press release posted on the Facebook page.
According to MAI, in 12 counties and in Bucharest, passport services work on Monday, August 14, and in four more counties will work also on Tuesday, August 15, although these days are legal holidays.