Dear Claudienne,

I have been trying to get my Jamaican citizenship and passport for well over a year now. I applied June 15, 2022 via the Jamaica High Commission in Birmingham in the UK. The whole process has not been easy as there has been no response from the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) to my e-mail.

I have also faced the same problem with personnel at the PICA office in Kingston.

The journey started around 10 years ago when I applied for citizenship via my mother’s descent.

I came to Jamaica and went to the Constant Spring Road PICA office. For some weird reason the office had two sets of documents for my mother. The two documents had the same registration number, birth date, birth place, the name of my mother’s parents and witnesses. Obviously, someone had made an error. The clerk dismissed me and told me that I could not proceed with my application.

I was directed to the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) and after I gave them documents to prove my mother’s authenticity they issued a new certificate for my mother with the same registration number.

On June 15, 2022, I applied for Jamaican citizenship and after many months, PICA informed me by e-mail that my mother’s birth details did not match what was on my birth certificate. PICA said that I had to get my birth certificate amended. My e-mail to PICA explained that there were three sets of documents with the same registration number and name variation but that one of them did not match the information on my birth certificate.

I sent the documents to PICA via e-mail and the agency’s reply was “Thank you for the supporting evidence, this will be sent for processing.” That was in January 2023; however, I never received any more information from PICA.

Although the Jamaican High Commission kept telling me that my papers “are in the final stages of processing with PICA”, when I came to Jamaica on August 19, 2023 and contacted PICA I was told that they had no citizenship application for me.

I am very frustrated and am seeking your assistance in sorting out this sorry state of affairs.

ZH

Dear ZH,

After many months of futile communication with PICA,
Tell Claudienne eventually contacted the office of the permanent secretary of the Ministry of National Security.

On August 7, 2024 we note that you received the following e-mail from the PICA customer service manager,

“The PICA thanks you for the patience you have exercised whilst we work to bring your matter to a resolution.

Your application was brought to the attention of our CEO, acting, who has referred same to the attention of the review committee for a decision. We commit to providing you with an update on the decision of the committee on Monday, September 2, 2024, following the committee’s monthly meeting.

We are grateful for your continued patience.”

Tell Claudienne notes that you have now received your citizenship documents from PICA.

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 or Cell/WhatsApp # 876-484-1349 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.