The Government Has Added a US$20 QR Code Fee to the Passport Charge

The government had revealed that application costs had increased as expected

Therefore, the hundred people who camped at Harare's Passport office and the equivalent number of people who climbed to the congested premises at the crack of dawn in December will be happy they did.

Passport fees hiked despite initial uproar

With effect from New Year's Day, regular applications will now cost US$170, whereas emergency applications will cost US$270. 

Both fees include a US$20 Quick Response (QR) expense.

The original intentions to increase passport costs from the already high US$120 to US$200 for regular applications and from US$80 to US$300 for emergency ones were submitted to Parliament by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.

Zimbabweans, who were already facing hardship, opposed his intentions.

Eager to escape Zimbabwe, hundreds raced to Passport Centers around the nation in an attempt to beat Ncube's presumptive January 1 deadline.

The December passport rush is a result of Zimbabwe's economic crisis, which has driven millions of people to leave the country in pursuit of better opportunities abroad.

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