The government of Nicolás Maduro requires airlines, starting this Wednesday, September 25, to verify the authenticity of the safe-conduct or provisional travel document of Venezuelans who travel to their country with an expired passport, two sources from the aeronautical sector confirmed to El Pitazo. They asked to protect their names.
The demand became necessary in view of the “forgeries of the travel document that have been presented,” reads the minutes of what was agreed upon in the meeting held on the morning of this September 25 in Caracas, between the authorities of the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC), the Administrative Service for Identification, Migration and Immigration (Saime) and representatives of national and international airlines
The requirement for verification of safe passage is also required for travel agencies. Both must, from now on, send a copy of the expired passport and the passenger’s provisional travel document to an email that they made available to them, to ensure that they are true.
Thus, Venezuelans who need to travel to their country must do so with a valid passport, or failing that, with an expired one and a safe-conduct document, which will now be verified.
“In addition, the orthodox thing, according to them (the authorities), is that everyone has a valid passport,” indicated one of the sources.
The issuance of an official statement or circular to communicate this information is not expected, since “it would be admitting that they disapplied the law,” said another source.
SAFE CONDUCT: PRICE AND WHERE TO REQUEST IT
The safe conduct allows Venezuelans to leave the country where they are in the direction of Venezuela in cases where their passport is expired, lost or stolen.
It is issued in Venezuelan embassies or consulates accredited around the world. If they do not have a diplomatic or consular legation in the country where they are located, they must request it from the Foreign Ministry, which will send it to them by email, the minutes add.
The issuance of the safe passage has a price of 60 dollars or euros for consular fees. Minors are exempt from payment.
If the applicant files a report of the theft or demonstrates that he has started the passport renewal or extension process, he will be exempt from paying the consular fee, some embassies state.
The request is initiated by email or online and then the required printed documents are submitted on the day of the appointment at the diplomatic mission, since the applicant must sign and place his or her fingerprint on the safe-conduct document.
It is issued no later than two business days after attending the appointment and must be requested at least one week before the trip. However, the recommendation is to verify with the diplomatic legation itself the delivery times and the requirements to request it. One of them is the original and a photocopy of the air ticket.
Once used, the safe-conduct has no legal validity for the return or other trip.
At the meeting held on September 25, it was agreed that the safe passage must be recent, “no less than 72 hours before the trip.”
With information from El Pitazo
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2024-09-29 20:38:30
