The Central Passport Office (CPO) under the MoFA will start collecting applications for the MRP from December 19 at its office in Narayanhiti and Nepali diplomatic missions abroad. [break]
One will have to wait for around six weeks to get an MRP after filing application. Officials have cited new technology, lack of expert hands and other security and technical reasons for the delay in issuing the passport.
The CPO will stop receiving applications for manual passport from the day it starts issuing the MRP.
Speaking at a news conference organized at the ministry, Bharat Raj Paudel, the chief of the CPO, said they will revise six-week average time for receiving MRP once the MRP issuing system gets stabilized in time. "The collection of applications for MRPs and distribution of passports will be done from CPO at Narayanhiti and Nepali missions abroad until another arrangement," he said.
Poudel said the CPO plans to gradually start collecting applications for MRP and distributing passports at regional and district level. "We have been holding consultations with Home Ministry. They [Home Ministry officials] are positive about our request," he said. "We will decentralize the collection and distribution system once our system stabilizes."
Nepal as a member of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) should have started issuing MRP from April 1, 2010. Since the country missed the original deadline, MoFA started issuing passports from its own office at Narayanhiti while stopping the issuance from 75 District Administration Offices (DAOs), which are under the Home Ministry.
The government preponed the issuance of MRPs by five days. Earlier it had planned to begin issuing MRPs from January 1, 2011 after it failed to meet another ICAO deadline of August 1 following the cancellation of the MRP contract bid with India.
MoFA later inked a deal with French printer Oberthur Technologies on August 30. As per the agreement, Oberther was supposed to supply 400,000 MRP booklets within 70 days of signing of the deal. "We have received enough passport booklets to start issuing the MRPs," said Poudel.
Officials said the CPO will set up an inquiry desk beginning December 29 to help the members of the public to file applications for MRP. The MRP application form and necessary information are also available on CPO´s website -www.cpo.gov.np.
The fee for obtaining an MRP is Rs 5,000. And those wishing to obtain the passport under ´fast service´ and those wanting replacement for their lost passports will have to pay Rs 10,000.
Those already possessing valid manual passports need not apply for MRP now as manual passports will remain valid till November 24, 2015. The CPO plans to send samples of Nepali MRP to concerned places within next 10 days to avoid possible hassles for Nepali nationals at immigration offices in various countries.
MRP application requirements
- Two copies of application forms filled-up with details
- Copy of citizenship certificate
- Two copies of passport sized color photos (45 mm x 35 mm or 4.5 cm x 3.5 cm) taken against a simple and light background within last six months
- Receipt of passport fee
- For minors, an official identity card issued for minros and copies of citizenship certificates of mother or father
- Application forms are available at the CPO or can be downloaded from www.cpo.gov.np
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