Maj. Gen. Elia Costa, the Director General of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration - Photo credit: Eye Radio/Awan Moses

 The Director of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports and Immigration has revealed that more than 3,000 passports and nationality cards are currently lying uncollected in the department’s storage facilities in Juba.

Speaking to Eye Radio on Thursday, Major General Elai Costa said many applicants fail to return to collect their documents after submission, with some passports even expiring while still in the custody of the department.

According to Gen. Costa, the situation has contributed to congestion in storage facilities and confusion among the public, as many people continue to complain about delays without first verifying whether their documents are already ready.

“We have a lot of nationality cards and passports in our store waiting for their owners to come and collect them, more than three thousand,” Gen. Costa said. “Some passports have even expired because they were produced but the owners did not come to receive them.”

He added that there are between three and four thousand nationality cards and passports currently awaiting collection, urging applicants who submitted their documents months ago to visit immigration offices and check the status of their applications.

“Maybe your nationality card or passport is already ready, but you have not come to check it,” he said. “If the nationality card is available, it will not take you more than two days to obtain it.”

Gen. Costa, however, acknowledged that delays sometimes occur due to shortages of nationality cards or passport booklets, which can slow down the processing of applications.

He called on the public to regularly follow up on their applications instead of waiting indefinitely, stressing that many complaints could be resolved if applicants confirmed whether their documents were already available for collection.