The Director Gen. of Civil Registry, Nationality and Passports Director General Major General Elia Kosta| Photo Credit| Michael Daniel

The Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports and Immigration has announced plans to deploy mobile registration teams to schools in Juba to facilitate the issuance of nationality certificates and passports for Senior Four and Primary Eight candidates preparing for national examinations.

The initiative comes after the arrival of a consignment of 105,000 nationality cards and 3,600 blank passport booklets intended to boost the availability of civil documentation services across the country.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eye Radio on Tuesday, Director General Major General Elia Kosta said the directorate now has more than 200,000 nationality cards in stock and is ready to expand registration services.

“We have received 105,000 nationality cards plus 3,600 passports. The stock we have now is more than 200,000 nationality cards in our warehouse,” Kosta said.

He urged citizens to apply for nationality certificates and announced plans to extend services to the states through the deployment of mobile registration kits.

“Soon we are going to call all the directors of the state immigration offices to come and receive their mobile kits so that they can start issuing nationality certificates and passports in each state,” he said.

Kosta said the directorate would also send mobile registration teams directly to schools in Juba to help students obtain the documents required for examination registration.

“We have a plan that every school, especially within Juba town, which is preparing Senior Four or Primary Eight candidates for examinations, can receive a mobile team from us. We are ready to take a mobile team to any school that is ready,” he said.

He encouraged schools to submit requests early to avoid delays and congestion often experienced during examination periods.

“We want the process of obtaining nationality documents to start earlier because when examinations are near, there is usually congestion. Schools can write their requests to us and we can move our people there,” Kosta added.

The directorate says the initiative is aimed at reducing the challenges faced by students who require nationality documents before registering for national examinations.