Naupoto Apologises to Public Over Passport Delays

Minister for Immigration Viliame Naupoto has apologised for the passport shortages; announcing plans that all backlogs would be cleared by next month.

Speaking during the 2025-2026 National Budget debate this week, Mr Naupoto revealed that 100,000 new passports have started arriving in the country, with the first batch received last week and another 25,000 expected by month's end.

"I would like to offer my sincere apologies for those that may have been inconvenienced by the passport shortage," Mr Naupoto said.

He outlined plans to extend Immigration Department office hours to 8pm when the next batch of 25,000 passport books arrives, with the target to clear all backlog by the end of August.

"The target is to clear all backlogs by the end of next month and bring passport processing back to normal," he stated.

Processing time

Mr Naupoto also announced plans to reduce processing times, with normal passport processing dropping from 15 to 10 working days and urgent processing from three to two working days.

The Budget includes $5 million for purchasing an additional 200,000 blank passport books to prevent future shortages.

Mr Naupoto also addressed permit processing delays, revealing that 31,144 permit applications were stuck in the system due to poor integration when new systems were introduced.

"They worked on it and I am pleased to report that they have cleared the 31,144 applications."

Mr Naupoto confirmed that the 6831 of the remaining 9843 applications that required full processing have been done by Tuesday morning.

He expects the remaining 3012 applications to be processed by month's end.

Mr Naupoto also announced that Fiji citizens with valid e-passports can now use Australia's SmartGate system at all Australian airports, with plans to pursue similar arrangements with New Zealand and other major destinations.

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