Alvine Kapitako
Windhoek-As of next year Namibians and foreign nationals alike will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets to pay for national and immigration documents, after Cabinet approved the proposed new fees for such documents issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration.
At a briefing last week, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology Stanley Simataa said the issuance of birth, death, identity document and marriage certificates for the first time are free. A duplicate or correction of names will cost N$50 for a birth certificate, N$100 for a marriage certificate duplicate, N$100 for a death certificate duplicate, and N$300 for change of surname, Simataa said.
Currently, citizens who want duplicates of identity documents pay N$50 each, duplicate birth certificates cost N$30, a marriage certificate correction is N$30, while a duplicate is N$12 and a duplicate for death certificate is N$12.
Simataa further announced that student permits for primary and secondary schools will cost N$1,500 while student permits for tertiary studies will cost N$2,000, permanent resident certificates will cost N$18,000, re-entry visas for peer holders would cost N$800, while certificates of identity will cost N$1,500.
Further, Namibians will now pay N$200 for ordinary passports from the current N$150, while lost or damaged passports will be replaced at a cost of N$400 from the current N$350. There are no first time fees for official or diplomatic passports, however, a replacement of a lost or damaged diplomatic passport will cost N$400, said Simataa.
Simataa said the current fees were effected “a long time ago”. The new fees would be published in the Government gazette and will be effective as from next year.