Police in Finnmark want a mobile passport office, so to serve a dispersed population when there will now be fewer places issuing passports.
‘We have asked the Police Directorate to deliver a report on a possible mobile solution so that we can cover the whole district’, said Leif Sætrum of Finnmark police.
He explains that one of the consequences of police reform includes the fact that there are fewer places issuing passports, which is why the notion of a passport kiosk came up last December, so that passport issuance can happen at various locations which would be pre-announced, and where those who need a new passport can make an appointment to get one.
Trond-Einar Olaussen is mayor of Gamvik municipality, and he’s familiar with police plans, and that they may also be be used for identity verification controls.
‘We have a lot of foreign workers who currently have to travel to either Vadsø or Kirkenes to get a residence permit. So if a mobile solution also eases the travel burden on workers who come here, we’ll be very satisfied’, said the mayor.
The mayor of Nordkapp, Kristina Hansen, has difficulty understanding why, in the future, the sheriff’s offices should also not be able to do this job.
‘But a mobile solution could, of course, also be an option’, she said.
A decision about whether there will be mobile passport issuing solution in Finnmark will be made on the 1st of May.
‘We are crossing our fingers that the Police Directorate solution is focused, and that they see that a mobile solution will be beneficial in a county where there are long distances between population centers.
We can also see that the offices issuing passports could have longer opening hours, so people won’t need to take time off from work to obtain a new passport’, said Leif Sætrum.
Source: nrk.no / Norway Today
