Africa-Press – Namibia. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security says Namibians with new identity documents (ID) can only stay in Botswana for a period not exceeding 30 days at a time.
This was revealed by the ministry’s spokesperson Margret Kalo on Wednesday.
According to Kalo, when a resident of either country visits the other country, they must not exceed 90 days in a year.
“Namibians who do not have the new IDs and wish to travel to Botswana are urged to get the new IDs. This recently commissioned agreement only caters for Namibians who have the new IDs,” she said.
The ministry is urging all Namibians to acquire the new ID with a quick response code, which replaces the fingerprint system.
The new IDs have a machine-readable zone, which replaced the barcode.
“These features are more secure as the quick response code and the machine-readable zone contain elements that will be read by a machine and are not easy to forge,” she said.
Kalo said the use of IDs is of utmost importance to people living at the border between Namibia and Botswana as IDs are cheaper than passports.
“Acquiring a passport is very expensive, but acquiring an ID is for free, unless you have lost it. But even if you lost it, it’s cheaper than getting a new passport once you lose it,” she said.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
