Ministry corrects itself on birth certificate requirements for new passports

After a confusing statement on Wednesday on the birth certificate requirement for new passport applications, government yesterday corrected itself.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, birth certificates should not be older than two years prior to the application date.
On Wednesday, the Ministry, in what was an error in its wording, said that with immediate effect, “applicants for passports and other travel documents will be required to present original birth certificates that were issued no less than two (2) years prior to the date of submission of the applications, instead of six (6) months.”
A few weeks ago, the Immigration Department, which deals with the issuance of passports, notified applicants for new ones that it has been directed not to accept birth certificates older than six months. The move triggered an outpouring of protests. There were arguments that a birth certificate does not have an expiry date. The measure was to reduce the incidence of fraud, government had said.
Immediately after, the General Registrar’s Office, which is in charge of the issuance of birth certificates, reported a rush by persons.
The policy sparked a court case filed by attorney-at-law, Saphier Husain-Subedar who is challenging the legality of the six-month requirement. The lawyer said that on June 18th, he visited the Immigration Office on Camp Street where his application for a new passport was rejected on the grounds that his birth certificate was older than six months.
The lawyer has filed a case against the Commissioner of Police, in his capacity as the Chief Immigration Officer, asking that he be issued a new passport using his current birth certificate.
The lawyer also wants the current six month rule to be deemed unconstitutional.