Luis Gilberto Murillo, the foreign minister of Gustavo Petro’s government, He came out to clarify some points regarding what is coming for the issuance and production of passports in Colombia.
Murillo’s words were given this Wednesday, August 14, a day after Viviana León, director of the National Printing Office of Colombia, stated that the entity would be responsible for issuing and producing passports for Colombians starting in 2025.
(See: This is the step-by-step process to obtain a US passport online).
León had said on Tuesday 13 that the Printing House would begin this work from September 2025, explaining that it would not be an immediate function and that it would take place in the third stage of a plan designed by the Government.
Passports.
Private Archive
The Petro government’s plan for passports
Foreign Minister Murillo stated that for five months A three-phase process was generated regarding the issuance of passports. The first of these, according to the official, is coming to an end.
“The production and delivery processes of passports have never been at risk. The first phase of the plan is being fulfilled and involved continuing with the issuance of the document through a contract signed with the firm Thomas Greg & Sons. And they, despite all the ups and downs, have guaranteed production.“Murillo said.
(See: Step by step to obtain a Colombian passport online).
The second phase would begin between October 2 and 3 and is related to a public-private hybrid. In this regard, Murillo explained that Colombia will form an alliance with a foreign government “that has the credibility and the capacity and accompanies the country and the National Printing Office in strengthening its processes to have all the production of passports, because one of the criteria that President Petro gave us was to prioritize the public and that is what we are doing.“.
This, according to the chancellor, means that Colombia and the chosen country will sign a memorandum of understanding for the issuance of passports. In addition, In this process, the National Printing Office and a private partner, which will be under the tutelage of the foreign government, will also come into play.
Along those lines, for now, “The private partner will be responsible for the loyalty, printing and delivery of passports. This scheme, which is hybrid, must lead to the third phase of the plan, in which production is already done through the foreign government in alliance with the National Printing Office.“.
(See: Traveling alone for the first time? Here’s what you can’t forget).
Specifically regarding the role of the Printing Press, Murillo stated that it was found that the entity “It needs additional strengthening processes and would not be ready to assume its functions on October 3, so the country that advises us will begin the accompaniment in the processing of passports.“.
Passports
Chancellery
The country that will support Colombia in issuing passports
Murillo said that in The Government will select the country that will support the passport issue during the week of August 19-25.
So far, Colombia has received proposals from Canada, Germany, a Portugal-France alliance and the Netherlands.
(See: Have you lost your passport outside of Colombia? Follow these steps to resolve the situation).
“Passport production is not at risk. It will be a smooth transition in October and, starting in 2025, the model will be implemented, with the strengthening of the National Printing Office.“the chancellor insisted.
And he added: “As soon as the country that will help us is chosen, we will have discussions on the best route to take so as not to affect the production of passports. Some of the proposals include producing the documents abroad. We are fully confident that this will be successful.“.
Problems with passports in Colombia
In February 2024, the Foreign Ministry suspended the tender for the issuance of passports because, according to other companies interested in the tender, there is no free competition, since For the past 17 years the same firm, Thomas Greg & Sons, has been responsible for producing the Colombian passports and visa labels.
The contract with Thomas Greg & Sons still had three years left to run, which is why the company, after failing to reach a conciliation agreement with the Government, announced, in December 2023, a lawsuit against the State for 117 billion pesos.
This tender caused the provisional suspension – which later became definitive when Petro appointed Luis Gilberto Murillo as foreign minister – by the Attorney General’s Office of the previous foreign minister, Álvaro Leyva, due to possible irregularities in the passport tender process.
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