THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
There are currently delays in the issuance of passports throughout Germany, according to the German press agency dpa. A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) was quoted as saying that the Bundesdruckerei, the government printers that produce passports and ID cards, was unable to print all document orders within the usual production time due to exceptionally high orders.
In the first few weeks of the year, the number of applications for passports is reported to have risen exceptionally sharply and exceeded even the regular high number of applications before the summer months, when many citizens travel out of the country on vacation. “Within four weeks, well over 600,000 passports were ordered for the first time in the history of the Bundesdruckerei GmbH,” the interior ministry spokeswoman was quoted as having said.
As a result of this development, a waiting time of at least four weeks from the date of application is to be expected when applying for a passport, according to the ministry spokeswoman. Express orders would, however, continue to be delivered on time. For ID cards, the waiting time is still around two weeks from the date of application.
Vivian Asamoah
