CNI News
3 Sept 2022
As applying for passports in Yangon Region by applicants themselves may take a long time, some people apply passports through agents, who offer helps to get passports faster. Agent fees range between MMK 250,000 and MMK 400,000, some passport applicants told the CNI.
As a large number of people are trying to work or study abroad, many people applied passports online but booking for QR codes has been full until December. As a result, some people try to get faster passports with the help of agents and agent fees have risen to such amounts.
Ko Tin Ko, a passport applicant told the CNI, “I can apply my passport online. However, I can’t get the QR code to apply for my passport by myself and will have to wait three to four months. So, it is very difficult to get passports and many people decided to throw money at the problem. So, agent fees have risen. Some people borrowed money from others at high interest rates to work abroad. So, the longer they wait, the more interest they will have to pay. For workers, they will get their wages if they can go abroad as soon as possible. So, they decided to throw money at the problem.”
It takes three to four months to get passports if applicants try to get passports by themselves but faster passports are issued within about a month.
The practice of applying for passports through agents has been in existence for years but agent fees were about MMK 150,000 in the past.
People lining to apply for passports.
Online bookings have been full because of people who work in Yangon and do not want to go back to their towns to apply for passports and some people who resell their bookings.
Director Ko Nay Oo of Naytic Asia Employment Agency, “If you book for your passport now, you will get it in December or January. If you get your passport within a month from application, you get it within a short period. It takes four or five months to get a passport because a large number of people are preparing to work abroad. Although only a few people go to Japan, hundreds of thousands of people are trying to work in Thailand and Malaysia. There were many people in the passport office when I applied for my passport. I had to give MMK 400,000 to the agent and wait for about a month. As bookings were full until November, I had to seek the help of agents. How can I go abroad without a passport. This was the only way to get a passport quickly.”
When online bookings are made at Myanmar Passport Office, those who bribed through agents receive earlier booking numbers than those who are not, according to an applicant.
Some applicants who want to work abroad are tricked out of their money by their agents.
Although it is impossible for relevant departments to take action against agents and booking resellers, current agent fees are too high and should be around MMK 150,000, which will be affordable, according to passport applicant.
