The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Passport Office has received about 11 to 125 applications a week from New Providence residents affected by the Privy Council’s landmark citizenship ruling, according to Chief Passport Officer Kingsley Smith.

In May, the Privy Council affirmed that children born out of wedlock to Bahamian men are citizens at birth regardless of their mother’s nationality.

On June 26, the Passport Office officially began accepting applications from persons whose Bahamian father was identified on their birth certificate.

The Davis administration has not yet established the regime by which those without their father on their birth certificate can obtain citizenship.

Mr Smith told The Tribune that between 25 to 35 applications are processed per week.

“These are cases that actually do qualify,” he said. “Overall, Freeport would have had 42 persons already enrolled. Abaco had three, while Exuma had one.”

As of June 26, the Passport Office has been accepting such applications.

Mr Smith said the office had been strained by the influx of people seeking the critical document.

“We’re basically having to turn people away because we only could see a little over 100 persons per day,” he said. “And we find ourselves going beyond the closing time of four o’clock. Sometimes I found myself one day up to six o’clock still enrolling persons.”

Mr Smith said some people applying for passports don’t qualify for the document yet.

“So they come to the office seeking some assistance, some guidance,” he said. “So again, especially our queries department, they see an uptick in persons as well, having to explain this process throughout the day for persons seeking advice as to where they are and if they qualify.

“A lot of people fall in the category of not being on the child’s birth certificate, the fathers.”