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Friday, 19.04.2024, 05:43
Mobile passport workstation from Latvia successfully operated in Australia and New Zealand
Applications for passports and ID cards were received and biometric information collected in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and Christchurch. 585 applicants were served and 633 personal identity documents were issued through use of the portable workstations.
The mission was arranged to strengthen the bond with Latvians in Australia and New Zealand and provide personal identity documents to those who obtained Latvian citizenship following the amendments to the Citizenship Law made on 1 October 2013. Latvian citizens residing in Australia and New Zealand will receive their new passports before the 12th Saeima (parliamentary) election on 4 October 2014.
The Foreign Ministry of Latvia appreciates the efforts of Latvian honorary consuls in Australia and New Zealand, whose active involvement made the field trip possible, and offers thanks to the Latvian diaspora for their support.
The first mobile passport workstation mission to Australia took place in 2011, when 346 passports were processed for Latvian citizens in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.
A mobile passport workstation is a set of equipment which makes it possible to collect a person's biometric data (a photograph and fingerprints) away from the premises of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs or Latvian diplomatic missions and consular posts, thus making it easier for Latvian nationals in remote areas of their countries of residence to receive personal identity documents closer to their homes.