South Sudan’s Immigration Directorate has resumed issuing passports and national ID cards following the arrival of new booklets, ending delays that left thousands of citizens waiting for essential documents.
The Inspector General of Police, General Said Chawul Lom,
officially launched the resumption at the directorate headquarters on Friday.
“Any person who does
not have a nationality, any citizen who does not have a passport, can come here
and get the passports,” Lom said.
The new booklets will allow the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport, and Immigration (CRNPI) in Juba to begin clearing the backlog of applications.
Maj. Gen. Elia Costa Faustino, Director
General of CRNPI, said persistent shortages of blank booklets had stalled
document issuance, preventing citizens from travelling for education,
healthcare, or business.
“From Monday we are going to start producing the passport
and the nationality to those people who have processed their process, their
documents,” Faustino said.
“We are going to give priority to the students who are going
for the scholarship, the students who are abroad and the sick people. So, those
people we are going to start giving them, issuing them the passport to those
who apply for it.”
Faustino said the directorate has received 10,050 regular passports, 4,404 diplomatic passports, 2,810 official passports, and 27,592 special passports cards. It also recieved about 35,000 nationality certificates and 380,000 personal ID cards.
Authorities confirmed that production is set to resume on Monday,
19 January 2026.
Students applying for passports will need to present confirmation from the Ministry of Higher Education, while South Sudanese abroad can apply through embassies.
Patients referred for medical treatment outside
the country must provide medical referral documents. Once priority groups are
served, issuance will be opened to the general public.
The personal ID card is required for
services including banking, land transactions, and court processes.
“The nationality only proves that you are a South Sudanese,
but the personal ID contains full personal details,” Faustino said, noting that
ID cards will only be issued to adults aged 18 and above.
IGP welcomed the resumption of services, saying prolonged shortages had affected students, elderly people, and travelers, some of whom missed university opportunities and family reunions.
He urged citizens to safeguard all types of passports and ID cards, describing them as essential for identification, banking, and legal transactions.