George Lamya Passport Officer at US Embassy in DC, Casualty of Malawi’s Austerity Measures Initiated by Chaponda

ATLANTA(MaraviPost): Malawians residing in the USA should brace for problems in renewing their Passports as outstanding passport officer George Lamya who has been a fixture at the Passport Office in DC has been recalled as part of the budget cutting initiative done by George Chaponda before he was assigned another Portfolio.

George Lamya when Malawi initiated the new bio-metric passports worked hand in hand with the Maravi post as he toured different states and cities in the USA including Atlanta, Indiana and Seattle among them.

In a statement released March 2016, George Chaponda said as one way of enhancing efficiency of Malawi’s foreign missions, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation had embarked on an exercise of downsizing personnel of both Diplomats and local staff in all Malawi missions abroad.
Disclosing this to the media at the Ministry’s headquarters in Lilongwe, Minister responsible George Chaponda said through the exercise government has reduced the number of Diplomats from 234 down to 152, saving a total of 3.1 Billion Kwacha in personal emoluments and another 2.2 Billion Kwacha in rentals of   Diplomats houses and schools’ fees for their children.
Chaponda told Media then that Government expects greater output in attracting tourism and potential investors, even with lean staff that will be maintained.
“We have been looking at our foreign service in order to see what are the areas that we can have some reforms. The first aspect is that we find that some of our embassies are overstaffed, and that therefore we have decided to rationalize the numbers by reducing from eighteen in some cases to around six across the board,” disclosed Chaponda.

Passport Information on Malawi US Embassy in DC:

The Embassy of Malawi in Washington, D.C. would like to inform all Malawians resident in the Washington Metropolitan area that the application process for the replacement of Malawi Passports will commence at the Malawi Embassy located on 2408 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 on Monday, August 1st, 2011.  Consular hours are as follows: 9:30a.m. to 12 noon. However, for the purpose of this exercise, consular hours will be extended to 6:30pm.

To ensure that applicants are assisted efficiently and in time, applicants are requested to first call the Embassy on 202 721 0270 extensions 556 to book an appointment with Mrs. Agnes Duker. Appointments may also be made by e-mail to Malawippt@gmail.com.  In both cases applicants must provide their full names as they appear in the old passport, current residential address, telephone/cell phone numbers and e-mail address. Appointments made by e-mail will be confirmed by return e-mail as soon as possible.

Passport forms shall be obtained and filled at the Embassy in black ink.  All applicants should report in person since they shall be required to submit fingerprints and remember to bring the following with them: –

Current or expired Malawi passport

Two passport size photographs taken on a white background: size: 4.5 x 3.5 centimeters.

Prescribed $200 fee

Police report or certificate for lost passports

Marriage certificate in the case of married women

Birth certificates and copies of parents’ Malawi passports for children born in the U.S. and

Divorce or husband’s death certificate in the case of women who would like to change surname.

Applicants are required to bring their children including those below the age of ten (10 years) since they are now required to have their own passports. Children below the age of eighteen (18 years) must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians with proof of legal guardianship.

The Consular Officer at the Malawi Embassy is currently working on the logistics for facilitating the application process for the replacement of the passports for Malawian national’s resident in Canada, Mexico and elsewhere in the United States of America. In this regard, another announcement will be made on the Embassy’s website (www.malawiembassy-dc.org) in due course advising those Malawian nationals how the application process will be carried out.

In the meantime, the Malawi Embassy is inviting Malawi Associations or groups, or individual Malawians resident in Canada, Mexico and the United States to assist in identifying key locations in their localities with the largest concentration of Malawians and suitable venues (e.g. schools, church grounds or yard, public parks, homes, etc.) to facilitate the work of the Consular Officer as far as possible.

To speed up the application process, applicants are encouraged to travel to Washington, DC with members of their families to process their applications at the Malawi Embassy without having to wait for the Consular Officer to visit their areas.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Can I use my current (old) passport to leave and return to my country of residence (Canada, Mexico or the United States of America)?

Answer:  The old passports may still be used by Malawians in the diaspora for international travel from the country of residence to another country other than Malawi and back.  However, a Malawian who returns to Malawi will not be allowed to leave the country using the old passport.

Malawians who wish to travel to Malawi to visit must at the earliest opportunity have their passports replaced before returning to their country of residence.

Is the Malawi Embassy issuing the new passports?

Answer:  No.  The completed applications will be forwarded to Malawi where the passports will be issued by the Malawi Department of Immigration.   All efforts will be made to ensure that the passports are issued and forwarded to the applicants within a period of thirty (30) to forty (40) days.

All suggestions or inquiries regarding the new Passport system or the provision of consular services by the Malawi Embassy should be addressed for the attention of Mr. George Lamya t