Paperwork Time
Ignorance about the new, easier procedures for obtaining Identity Cards and Passports causes lines and frustration. Cuba moves systematically towards the integration of these and other services, and towards a new identification document.
Ana María Domínguez Cruz
digital@juventudrebelde.cu
May 9, 2013 20:27:19 CDT
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A CubaNews translation. Edited by
Walter Lippmann.
Sonia del Pozo finished her day´s work, and less than half an hour after
six o´clock p.m. she showed me, with relief, her updated identity card.
“I first thought I could come in the morning to do the paperwork for the
change of my deteriorated ID card, but I could not miss work.
Fortunately these offices are open until 7:00 p.m. a few days a week,
and those of us who work can do both things the same day.”
For Sonia it was heaven-sent to arrive at the office in her municipality
and find only two people in the waiting room. The process of changing
jer ID card took less than half an hour and the passport application was
processed simultaneously, she said.
“I had found out what I needed for both processes, and in fact it is
really much better that both things can be done in the same place. It is
faster and simpler for the population.”
Sonia has her new ID card and in a few days will get a telephone call
telling her she can pick up her passport. “These were things that used
to take days, and now everything is better-organized and faster.”
The experience of this Havana resident who got her ID and passport so
quickly may surprise others in the country. Some do not know yet this is
due to the determination and efforts of the Dirección de
Identificación y Registro [ID Registration Directorate], of the
Ministerio del Interior [Ministry of the Interior] to reduce the
processing time and simplify the procedures for the population.
In Detail
There are 275 processing
offices of the Dirección de Identificación y Registro,
countrywide. Last year 2 536 772 persons filed applications. More than 1
740 000 of these were ID card applications.
Col. Mario Méndez Mayedo, Deputy Director of the Dirección de
Identificación y Registro told us that from January to April this
year 746, 184 persons have visited their
offices to submit applications, mostly for ID cards; but since
January 14, in 195 of these offices, they have also been able to apply
for passports or passport renewals.
“It was a decision by our Department and of the Dirección de
Inmigración y Extranjería [Immigration Department] to offer these
services together, so that people can make their applications either in
their offices or in ours for both types of documents. People can go to
whichever is closer to their place of work or residence.”
“To offer our services with a short waiting period, we had to put in
place a modern system that allows a quick flow of work, even when it
makes us more technology-dependent.”
Extending our opening hours was one of our objectives so we could offer
a more convenient service – he explained- considering that many people
work during the day and had to leave their workplace to carry out their
paperwork errands.
“Nevertheless, more than 60% of the population comes to our offices
between 8:00 AM and 12:00 noon. Many say they start lining up long
before dawn.”
“Only 2% come in the afternoon, even on Mondays and Wednesdays, when the
offices are open until 7:00 PM. Many think they will get better service
in the morning and this affects the speed of the service in those hours
because of the greater flow of people. But during the rest of the day we
offer the same services and the offices are empty,” Méndez Mayedo
explained.
Quite frequently, people complain because they must stand in the same
line for different applications, i.e. an ID card or a passport. This is
necessary because the flow of work responds to a predetermined layout,
explains Lt. Col. Magnolia Soto, Head of the Departamento de Carné de
Identidad y Registro de Población de la Dirección de Identificación y
Registro [ID card and Population Registry Department].
“People must go through reception where they receive the necessary
information about the documents they need to present. If they have
these, they are entered in the system. Then, they must go through the
Biometrics area, where their fingerprints and picture are taken, and
also their signature if they are applying for a passport.”
“Then they go to Tramitación [Processing] to confirm the
authenticity of the data and after that the ID card is made and handed
out within a few minutes. If the request is for a passport (the
applicant no longer needs to provide a photo because the one taken in
the office is printed for this purpose) the application is sent to the
Centro de Personalización de Documentos de Identidad y Viaje de la
Dirección de Identificación y Registro [Personal Identity and Travel
Documents Center] and then by means of a phone call the applicant is
informed of the pickup date,” explained the specialist.
Specialist Alejandro Diéguez Montesino explains that this center makes
all the passports requested from every application office in the
country. There have been more than 46,000 applications since January 14.
“The passport has a laminated page with a pdf that includes the personal
data of the individual, their fingerprints, and a zone for mechanical
reading.”
“Each passport goes through a quality control process and is then sent
by Trasval courier to the different territories within a 15-day
period, or less if the application office is in Havana.”
This passport processing is very secure. The same can be said of the new
type of ID card that will be put in place in the second half of this
year, said Col. Méndez Mayedo.
“Up to the now, ID documents issued in our country have been made by
hand. A new design has been approved to make them more secure and
prevent forgeries. This new design will be extended depending on
technical and organizational possibilities,” he said.
This new format will be similar to a magnetic card, explains Lt. Col.
Julio Torres a specialist with the Dirección de Identificación y
Registro. “This ID document has a synthetic support and is in
keeping with international standards. It will include, for the first
time, elements for mechanical data reading like, for example, a bar
code.
“It will be a very reliable card which will include other biometrical
values beyond fingerprints. They will be made in this Personal Document
Center, and while they are being made, individuals will have a
provisional identity document.”
There’s no reason to be alarmed about this new process --Mendez Mayedo
said-- because we know that for a while, until the necessary
arrangements are made, different types of identity documents will
coexist, as is the case now when some people still have the old
“identity booklet”.
The identification and registry of the population is one of the most
extensive services of the Ministry of the Interior. It includes the
direct contact with the public and therefore service quality and speed
are essential.
In the offices in Artemisa and Mayabeque other applications can be made,
for example for a driver’s license. This is in keeping with one of our
objectives: the integration of services, explains Col. Mayedo. The
experiment in these provinces has given good results and will be applied
in others where the volume of applications allows it.
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Sonia del
Pozo cumplió con su jornada laboral, y poco menos de media hora
después de las seis de la tarde me mostraba, aliviada, su carné
de identidad actualizado. |
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http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2013-05-09/la-hora-del-tramite/