ICA remains open

The Office of Immigration and Citizenship Authority will remain open with a minimum number of essential staff to serve its valued clients and corporate partners on visa and passport matters during the extended State of Emergency (SOE).

The Acting Chief Migration Officer, Robert Bara Kennedy, announced this on Friday, April 17th.

Kennedy stated that although the Counter Areas at Central Government Office and Koitachi Haus, Gordons were close since Monday,  March 23rd, and a further extension of two months effective as of April 9th, the Office will remain open weekly to provide vital services to clients, corporate partners and the non-citizens residing on short and long term basis in the country.

The Acting Chief Migration Officer also stated that ICA will provide assistance in receiving applications for new entry, extensions and release of passports based on appointments through email and telephone communication only. This medium of communication has been adopted with the State of Emergency rules for social distancing in the work place for officers and clients to avoid a face to face contact.

Kennedy further stated that the following services will be provided to best serve our clients during the shutdown period

1.     All extension and renewal applications including change of status must be placed in a PVC plastic and lodged with a client service staff at the door. The application will be placed in a box and quarantined for a day before it is distributed to the respective Divisions for appropriate actions. The turn-around time will be 14 days and staff will provide updated if and when passports are ready for collections. All follow ups must be made through, clientservice@immigration.gov.pg

2.     All short term visas e.g. business, visitor and restricted employment visa (REV) must be emailed to the EAP Branch through email address: extension@immigration.gov.pg for staff to prepare a one of extension letter which will be emailed back to applicant once approved and signed by Acting Chief Migration Officer. Applicants in this category are encouraged to express their interest to the Controller of the State of Emergency for approval to exit the country before these visas expire.

3.     All new Entry Applications must also be emailed to the Visa Management Branch through email address: entries@immigration.gov.pg for appropriate assessment and consideration.  Please take note that all PNG Missions and Posts are closed and authorised visas will only be issued once the restrictions in those respective countries are lifted.

4.     The Passport Service Centre at Koitachi Haus at Gordons will remain closed and all the ready passports will be collected at Central Government Office. Applicants must contact the Travel Document Branch through email address: passports@imigration.gov.pg for collection of their passports. All new passport applications will not be accepted until the International Travel Restrictions are lifted by the Controller of the State of Emergency 

5.     All our valued client and corporate partners are advised to pay for the Migration Services Fees through the ICA online payment gateway https://ica.gov.pg/online-guide/mica-online-guide as the EFPOS facility at Central Government Office is not available for MSF payments. All receipts generated through the online payment gateway must be attached with the application when lodging at the counter or emailing them through as evidence of payment.  If in doubt please email our Information Technical Team at itteam@immigration.gov.pg for further assistance

The Chief Migration Officer whilst considering the risk mitigation and social distancing during this time of the COVID19 pandemic sought the understanding and cooperation of our valued clients and customers to observe the temporary measures in order to minimise and control the interaction of client and staff during the lockdown period

The Chief Migration Officer concluded that the above services are temporary and normal services will resume when the State of Emergency is lifted in the near future

Author: 
Press Release