PARTIAL REGULATIONS TO THE DECREE WITH THE STATUS, VALUE, AND FORCE OF LAW OF AMENDMENT TO THE ORGANIC LAW OF IDENTIFICATION, RELATING TO THE ISSUE AND TIME EXTENSION OF PASSPORTS
Presidential Decree No. 4.571 of the same date was published in Official Gazette No. 42.092 of 22 March 2021, whereby the Partial Regulations of the Decree with Rank, Value and Force of Law on the Reform of the Organic Law on Identification, regarding the Issuance and Extension of Passports (the “Regulations”) were issued.
The most relevant aspects of the Regulation are outlined below:
The purpose of the Regulation is to establish the rules governing the issuance, renewal and extension of Venezuelan passports. The Regulation establishes the types of passports and classifies them as follows: (i) ordinary, (ii) diplomatic, (iii) service, (iv) emergency, (v) collective and (vi) provisional.
As for the Ordinary Passport, its validity is established as follows:
- Three (3) years of validity for children under three (3) years of age.
- Five (5) years of validity in the case of children and adolescents over (3) years of age and under eighteen (18) years of age.
- Ten (10) years for Venezuelans over eighteen (18) years of age.
This type of passport must be issued within 30 working days from the day after the applicant’s facial record has been taken and the documents have been deposited. The following documents are required for the application for an ordinary passport:
- Payment for passport appointment.
- Personal attendance and presentation of the serial or application for the passport appointment, on the assigned day and time.
- Presentation of a valid identity card.
- Payment for the issuance of passports.
In case of payment for expedited passport issuance, the passport shall be issued within five (5) working days and the user shall be notified of its availability for collection.
Passports may be renewed due to expiry, use of all the pages of the passport booklet, damage, loss, theft or when there is a change in the identification data. The same requirements are required for the issuance of the passport for the first time.
As for the extension of the validity of the passport, it may be processed as long as the passport is in optimal physical conditions to prolong its useful life, being extended for one (1) time only and for a maximum period of five (5) years.
The Regulation provides for the following exceptions for which the passport may not be extended:
- When granted to children aged nine (9) years or less.
- When the passport is in a physical condition that makes it impossible to extend its life.
- When the condition of the passport does not allow full identification of the applicant.
- When the passport has been disabled.
As for the other types of passports, the Regulation defines them as follows:
- Diplomatic and Service Passports are travel documents issued by the Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs to identify abroad the officials indicated in the Regulations.
- Emergency Passport is issued to foreign citizens whose countries have no representation in Venezuela or when it is necessary to safeguard the inalienable rights of the person.
- Collective Passport. This type of document is issued to organised groups for cultural, scientific, religious, sporting, tourist and other reasons provided for in international treaties and conventions.
- The Provisional Passport is a travel document granted exceptionally to Venezuelans who must travel abroad without delay, for reasons of urgency and necessity.
As a Transitional Provision, it is established that all travel documents and extensions issued at the date of publication of the Regulation shall remain valid until their expiry date.
The Regulation became effective upon its publication in the Official Gazette.
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