New passports for Sept 3 NEW MACHINE readable passports which become available locally on September 3, will cost $2,500 for adults and $1,500 for minors. Both currently cost $1,000. Adult passports are issued for 10 years while those for minors are valid for five years. It will also cost more for amendments to passports - the fee has been increased from $400 to $1,000 according to a statement from the Ministry of National Security and Justice. Replacement passports will however cost significantly less. The current cost for both minor and adults is $4,800. This has been reduced to $1,500 in the case of minors and $2,500 for adults. Express service is up by $700 to $2,500. A number of other services offered by the passport office have also been increased. These include the Seaman's certificate which is up $400 to $1,500; and emergency certificate or visa attached to an affidavit which is up $1,700 to $2,500. The price for alien registration (extension of stay beyond six months) has moved to $4,000, a 100 per cent increase. The new machine-readable Jamaican passports which have been developed to International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) specifications, will be available in three colours - regulars in wine red, official passports in green and red for the diplomatic corp. Laced with security features, the covers of the new books are worked out of leather-like material with the same design as the surface relief. The covers bear a slightly embossed gold centralised motif showing the Jamaican national Coat of Arms and the national motto. The passport contains 38 numbered pages, to be issued to minors and 50 pages for adults. Other security features include multiple page numbering (covert and overt), watermark of Jamaican Coat of Arms and text and page numbering that are revealed using a special decoding screen. As of September 3, 2001, the new passports will be issued from the new offices at 25 Constant Spring Road.
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