O'Neill government to set up One stop shop for visa, permits

Chief Secretary, Isaac Lupari

The Papua New Guinea  government is a few steps away from having an effective “one stop shop” as the merger of the work permits and visa operations is now in place.
Chief Secretary to Government Isaac Lupari said at the Business Breakfast yesterday, this was now being implemented after months and years of it being talked about, finalised at the Alotau Accord I 2012, but never got off the ground.
This is one of the many reforms that the government has undertaken and is continuing its service delivery mechanisms to develop Papua New Guinea.
“We will have a one stop shop visa and work permits. So this will in fact better the services for our people and businesses in the country. That was an initiative by this government and it has been much talked about and it’s come to fruition now,” Mr Lupari said.
“This was an agenda set as a priority for the government and it is now being implemented by this government.”
The government gave directions during the shutdown period last year to have the work permits section of the Labour office moved to the Central Government Office to merge with Immigration, but it has been delayed and will be effected this month.
Under Immigration eventually, and apart from the move, the government will look at the legal issues, pertaining to the labour employment act and migration act so that they can streamline and have some of the processes finalised.
“So eventually, after the changes in the process and any legal issues, we will have a one stop shop concept where clients can lodge at once visas and work permits on one counter. We hope that this process happens soon so we can create this for our citizens and our businesses, and this is convenient and efficient,” he said. Post Courier/PNG Today/Press Release