Passports cost less in N.Z.

Press, 7 October 1987, Page 4

Passports cost less in N.Z.

New Zealanders overseas who need new passports are being advised to post their applications direct to Wellington rather than go through an embassy or High Commission. The briefing papers said the Ministry •of Foreign Affairs was now charging the Internal Affairs Department for processing passport applications lodged abroad.

That meant there was a difference in the cost of passports issued in New Zealand and those issued overseas.

All aspects of passport issuing were being reviewed, the papers said. Redesigned passports that could be processed more quickly at airports were being considered, while ways of reducing congestion at passport issuing offices, especially Auckland, were being investi-

gated • Passports offices in New Zealand had been held up in processing applications because about 80 per cent of forms were not filled out correctly. The papers said people were neglecting to fill out basic personal details such as height or eye colour, and that could add 10 days to the time it took to issue a passport The deregulation of the .airline industry had resulted in fares that had encouraged more New Zealanders to travel, and that had increased the number of passport applications being made. The forms had been simplified once, the papers said, but they were being looked at again to see if there was any way the number of errors or omissions could be decreased.