Citizens of Montenegro who are sent to the Montenegrin Embassy in Beijing or another one that is not equipped to issue passports, will not solve the problem anytime soon, because two government departments - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MVP) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIP) - shift responsibility to each other.
On Thursday, "Vijesti" published the response of the MFA, which it heads Ranko Krivokapic (SDP), that the request of Montenegrin citizens from China to enable them to issue and extend their travel documents in the part of the world where they live and work is justified, but that, as they said, to solve that problem "it is necessary for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to systemically/software and technically enable the installation of biometrics... and ensure connection with its databases".
From the MUP, which he heads Filip Adzic (URA), yesterday they returned the ball to MVP. They explained that the submission of passport applications is possible only at the consulates general in New York and Frankfurt, and the Embassy of Montenegro in Belgrade, and said that, as the diplomatic and consular missions of Montenegro are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, their technical equipment in order to enable the submission of passport applications is not the exclusive responsibility of the Department of Internal Affairs.
"According to the above, and in order to obtain precise information, it is necessary to send the said inquiry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs", they told "Vijesti".
In mid-April, the MFA and MUP received a request from their colleagues from China, in which 59 Montenegrin citizens request that a decision be made on the production of ordinary passports at the Embassy of Montenegro in Beijing. In the letter, they explain the specific problems they have faced in the past two years alone. Among other things, it was stated that one of the citizens of Montenegro had to leave China in August last year due to the extension of his passport, because he could not get a new visa without a new passport, and he did not even return due to excessive administrative and financial obstacles.
They also stated that children of Montenegrin citizens, who are born in countries for which the Montenegrin Embassy in Beijing is responsible, cannot get a passport. The problem, as they stated, also affects students, sports workers, artists... and the signatories of the petition claim that many of them have returned to Montenegro. Because of everything, as they claim, they lose jobs, time, their families suffer...
The Ministry of Interior confirmed yesterday that on June 1 they received a request from colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs to submit a proposal for a possible solution to the problem.
In their response to "Vijesta", they further clarified the procedures, among other things, stating that the Law on Travel Documents stipulates that outside of Montenegro, the request must be submitted to the diplomatic or consular representation in whose territory the citizen resides continuously for more than three months.
They also added that when submitting, biometric data (photograph, two fingerprints, digitized handwritten signature) should be taken from the applicant in digital form.
"Photography is done with a digital color photo camera, while fingerprints are taken with an optical scanner. Taking a handwritten signature from a citizen is done on an electronic signature pad... In the procedure for the application for the issuance of a travel document, a photograph is not taken if, within a period of six months prior to the submission of the application for the issuance of the travel document, a photograph was taken of the person in accordance with the application for the issuance of an identity card, passport or driver's license and if that photograph meets the prescribed conditions, Filip Adžić's department stated.
They also reminded that the MUP, according to the law, is obliged to decide on the request as soon as possible - within 15 days at the latest, if the request is submitted to that Ministry, or 30 days, if the request is submitted to the diplomatic or consular representation of Montenegro. If it is an emergency, with proof of that, the passport, as they said, can be issued within 72 hours.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also states that the passport is delivered personally, that is, to a parent or legal representative, if it is a minor or a legally incompetent person.
They also said that as the law stipulates, the request for issuing a passport at the diplomatic and consular representation of Montenegro can only be submitted at the general consulates in New York and Frankfurt, as well as at the Embassy of Montenegro in Belgrade.
"The decision on the request for the issuance of a passport submitted in the aforementioned diplomatic and consular missions is made by the officials of the same, that is, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, within the time prescribed by law, while this Ministry, after making a decision, that is, approving the request for the issuance of a passport, prepares and submits the same to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the aim of further handing it over to the applicant," they told "Vijesti".
They also said that the general consulates in Frankfurt and New York have mobile stations for taking biometric data, so it is possible to take biometric data for persons who are outside the countries where these diplomatic consular representations are located.
"That is, also outside the same premises, in accordance with the submitted request for the use of the mobile station, and if there are conditions and opportunities for the officials of these diplomatic-consular missions to act according to the above", they state from the MUP and indicate that in accordance with the law and by-laws, "it is not possible to issue a passport without the personal presence of a Montenegrin citizen".
They also said that they are in constant communication with the Department of Foreign Affairs, in order to enable the citizens of Montenegro to exercise their rights.
"Even on the specific occasion of the aforementioned initiative, and in order to create the conditions for what is requested in cooperation with the aforementioned Ministry, which largely depends on their capabilities and capacities," said the department.
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