The fingerprints used for biometric passports will only be recognised by the IT system for a year, Identity Malta chairman Joe Vella Bonnici said.
“I am not sure what happens then. We are trying to solve it,” he said. “This is just one of the problems I found.
“Suffice to say that, for six years, we had to live with expired ID cards. Now we are 65 per cent through a mass roll-out. If we can do it now, why didn’t the previous administration do it? What was so problematic,” he asked.
“And all the systems – ID cards, passports, residence permits – are distinct and cannot communicate with each other. This was done intentionally for security purposes but you sometimes have to balance this with convenience.”
Mr Vella Bonnici estimates that the changes needed to the IT system will cos t hundreds of thousands of euros and could take as long as three or four years.
He is using IT to improve administration and, since June 1, every file at the Department of Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs is being scanned, ensuring that important documents do not get lost. “At the registry, we found files everywhere, including on windowsills...” he said.
If we can do it now, why didn’t the previous administration do it? What was so problematic
“We are also introducing a document management system at the Public Registry and the Land Registry. Some of the software at the Land Registry is 40 years old; there was one system that depended on one person, who passed away. Hopefully, we will salvage the situation. It is always crisis management!”
Mr Vella Bonnici said it would never be possible to accommodate all the Identity Malta activities at Evans, in Valletta, or any other building. “We will need to think about moving in the medium-term. In the meantime, we are upgrading and rationalising what we have... For example, there were six vending machines in a small waiting room at the passport office. What was the message? That people should give up hope that they would ever get out?”
Identity Malta also took responsibility for the single permit, which substitutes the work document issued by the Employment and Training Corporation and Identity’s Malta’s residence permit. “We were inundated with thousands, not hundreds, of applications,” he said.
He is also not happy with the time it takes to process residence permits – around eight weeks – and is mulling a fast track procedure.
There were already systems in place to issue emergency passports and ID cards. But perhaps not everyone appreciated the turmoil this caused. “You can get an emergency passport for €120 but an emergency ID card is free. “So those who have an expired passport often opt to get an ID card if they are travelling within Schengen. However, to print an urgent ID card, the IT system is set up in such a way that all other inputting and printing has to stop!”