Is Govt Moving to Improve Security at the Borders?

Govt Making Borders More Secure

The government through the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) is acquiring a new border security management system, to better enable the entity to collect, process, and analyse information on persons entering the country.

The new system, which is expected to come on stream in two years (2025/26), will ensure more secure border operations, particularly as persons take advantage of technology for ease of travel and will support the new and emerging technologies.

The modernised border management system will also provide a higher level and better quality of security to identify persons entering the country.  The agency is equipped with a suite of security products such as a document forensic lab, to assist in identifying fraudulent documents as well as facial recognition systems.

PICA will also be procuring more immigration kiosks as it moves the nation’s airports to global travel standards. The automated immigration kiosks are designed to detect people’s travel history. They primarily facilitate smoother and quicker travel, as they validate the information that the passenger has submitted and gives a landing record.

Currently 70 kiosks are in operation, 60 in Montego Bay and 10 in Kingston and there are plans to add 30 kiosks, 20 more in Montego Bay and 10 in Kingston. There is also a plan to include the country’s third international airport, the Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel St. Mary, in the queue to receive kiosks.

Currently, about 50 per cent of arriving passengers use the kiosks. With the additional kiosks in place, it is expected that more persons will use them to be processed when they arrive on the island.

Meanwhile, PICA is reporting that there has been significant take-up of the e-passport since its introduction in April 2023. The e-passport is an electronic passport, and this means a passport that has a chip inside of it which now contains the same information that is found on what is called the biodata page of the passport or the page with the picture on it. It is not a virtual passport or a virtual travel document.

One of the advantages of the e-passport is that it provides a far more secure document as it relates to the identity of the holder. The information that is seen on the biodata page, is not just there, but it is also on the chip. For example, if someone tries to compromise the passport, once the chip is read and there is a difference in the stored information and the biometric data page, it will show that the document has been tampered with.

The e-passport is consistent with international aviation trends and Jamaica is now a part of the 150 countries that have migrated to e-passports. The country is part of the trend by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in terms of strength in travel documents making the identity of the holder of the passport significantly improved.

The e-passport can be issued to all citizens either applying for, renewing, or replacing a passport. Applications may be submitted to PICA via its website at www.pica.gov.jm, or in person at the agency’s offices. These will be subject to the same procedure that obtains for regular passport applications.

And the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) is helping travellers who may have challenges filling out the online immigration form. Persons travelling to Jamaica, whether a resident or visitor, are now required to complete the immigration form online, replacing the existing paper document.

Persons can access the form at www.enterjamaica.com or at enterjamaica.gov.jm.  The cost to use the facility is FREE.

The agency says it’s aware that some travellers may be hesitant to embrace the change, however immigration assistants are on hand to provide help to persons, especially senior citizens. For the more technologically savvy flyer, PICA is also issuing cards with QR codes to provide easy access to the www.enterjamaica.com portal at the island’s three major airports.

Upon arrival in the airports, PICA will have cards with QR codes on it, and once it is scanned, the code will take the passenger straight to the portal and allow them to complete the form. They are shared with the airlines as well as with the airport operators.

The Agency is also reminding the public that information shared on the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency’s (PICA) online immigration form portal will be secure as it will be encrypted. The use of the online immigration form gives PICA the ability to enhance one of its mandates of border security. It will provide the agency with information beforehand, so that they can conduct their risk assessment and evaluation.

Jamaica is ensuring that it is a part of the change process, as PICA has observed that in many countries they are now moving away from the physical form and putting it in a digital format.

PICA is also reminding persons travelling with children that all members of the family are legally required to fill out an immigration form. The document facilitates where you can add, so once you have completed, there is a section that says add, because for immigration purposes, each member of the family must complete an immigration form. So, therefore, you can add a person and keep adding until your entire party or family is completed.

The online system will prompt the person filling out the application that all members of the family must complete an immigration form.

The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) was established on June 1, 2007 as an Executive Agency to be a self-financing, performance-based and service-oriented institution. The Agency evolved from the former Immigration, Citizenship and Passport Services Division of the Ministry of National Security following a modernization programme which started in 2005.