6 February 2020
The following is a public announcement from the St Helena Immigration Service:
St Helena Immigration would like to remind St Helena residents that all persons travelling through South African Border controls must be in possession of a passport that is machine readable.
Holders of St Helena British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC) passports containing a nine digit number beginning with 6240 are advised to contact the Immigration Office immediately if they are planning to travel.
St Helenians are also reminded that the full BOTC passport for all overseas territories including St Helena are printed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office in the United Kingdom.
The turnaround time from the date of despatch is six weeks for each application. When making an application for a BOTC passport, you will need to allow sufficient time for the passport to be returned from the UK and applicants are advised that it is important they apply for their passport in good time prior to their proposed travel date.
Where emergency travel is required at short notice, the Immigration Office will issue a temporary passport which will be valid for one year only. This passport is issued on-Island and is only issued to those who genuinely need to travel in an emergency situation i.e. medical referrals with one accompanying family member. However, each case will be assessed individually and a decision will be made as to whether the circumstances meet emergency travel criteria.
For further information regarding passport issuing, please contact the St Helena Immigration Office on tel: 22626.
SHG
6 February 2020