Angola: Procedure for acquiring a passport; documents required; whether an agent may receive the passport on behalf of the applicant; processing time; whether a person under the age of 16 can obtain a passport in their own name and if so, whether they require parental or guardian consent; Canadian missions that issue visitor's visas to applicants from Angola
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 6 March 2003 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | AGO41113.E |
| Reference | 4 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Angola: Procedure for acquiring a passport; documents required; whether an agent may receive the passport on behalf of the applicant; processing time; whether a person under the age of 16 can obtain a passport in their own name and if so, whether they require parental or guardian consent; Canadian missions that issue visitor's visas to applicants from Angola, 6 March 2003, AGO41113.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3f7d4d4e31.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to a consular assistant at the Embassy of the Republic of Angola in Washington, DC, to apply for a passport an individual must submit a passport application along with their Angolan identification card and birth certificate to the Migration and Foreigners Services (Serviços de Migração e Estrangeiros, SME) office (5 Mar. 2003). The consular assistant stated that the only SME office is located in Luanda, although a second office may have opened in Benguela state since the signing of the peace accord in 2002 (ibid.). In addition, the consular assistant said that men who are of military service age must present their military service registration card when applying for a passport, although they need not have served in the military to receive their passport (ibid.).
Applicants are fingerprinted when they apply for and when they receive their passport, which takes approximately one week to process (ibid.). Because of the fingerprinting requirement, no one is allowed to receive the passport on behalf of an applicant (ibid.). Any Angolan citizen will be issued a passport in their name, although children under the age of three years are usually included on their parent's passports and applicants 16 years old and younger require parental or guardian consent (ibid.).
A consular affairs officer at the Embassy of the Republic of Angola in Ottawa provided corroborating information when he stated that an Angolan citizen, no matter what his age, can obtain a passport in his name although "minors" require the parent's or legal representative's consent to do so (Angola 6 Mar. 2003). In addition, he confirmed that the applicant is required to apply for and pick up the passport in person (ibid.).
Regarding Canadian missions that issue visitor's visas to applicants from Angola, the second secretary at the Canadian High Commission (CHC) in Pretoria stated that it is common practice for an individual to submit an application along with a fee to the Canadian Consulate in Luanda, which will then forward the application to the CHC in Harare, Zimbabwe (Canada 6 Mar. 2003). Although the CHC in Pretoria is responsible for immigrant and visitor applications from ten countries in southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the CHC office in Harare has been given the authority and responsibility to process visitor applications received from Angola (ibid.). The CHC in Pretoria will only receive the "occasional" application by courier from Angola, which it will also process (ibid.). The second secretary noted that Angolan citizens may apply for a visitor's visa at any Canadian mission in the world (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Angola. 6 March 2003. Embassy of the Republic of Angola, Ottawa. Correspondence received from a consular affairs officer.
_____. 5 March 2003. Embassy of the Republic of Angola, Washington, DC. Telephone interview with consular assistant.
Canada. 6 March 2003. Canadian High Commission (CHC), Pretoria. Telephone interview with second secretary.
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
Internet sites, including:
AllAfrica.com
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), Canada
UK Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Country Assessment: Angola.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR)
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