People stand in a long line for personal documents in Skopje. Phot by BIRN
For about a third of North Macedonia’s citizens, getting new passports and ID documents that include the country’s new name, the Republic of North Macedonia, adopted after the 2018 so-called ‘name’ deal with Greece, is still a pipe dream.
The state cannot cope with the demand, the issuing of new documents is going slowly and according to the authorities, may take much of this year to be fully completed.
Meanwhile thousands of citizens are at risk of being unable to travel, whether for business or privately. Those who are already abroad have had to apply for a one-off paper document from a consulate just to return home.
Ombudsperson Naser Ziberi has said that by failing to issue new papers on time, the state is breaching people’s constitutional right to freedom of movement.
He added that citizens can file a complaint to the Ombudsperson and to the Interior Ministry, and could also pursue their rights in the courts, including the Constitutional Court.
The Ombudsperson’s office recently said that the number of complaints it is receiving over this issue is increasing.
We would like to hear from you if you’re a citizen of North Macedonia who has been affected by this problem, and if your travel plans had to be changed because you didn’t have the new personal documents.
If you’ve had to cancel or postpone an important trip, we would like you to tell us about it – if you’ve been forced to miss a funeral, a wedding, a vacation, a family visit or any another important personal event abroad.
We would also like to hear from you if you’ve missed a work trip or a business opportunity abroad because you couldn’t travel.
If you have had trouble returning to the country after the deadline’s expiry or if you had to go through the procedure of getting a one-time paper from a consular office in order to return home home, please also share your experiences with us.
We’d like to know if you have filed a complaint to the authorities about the problem, or if you plan to do so, and whether you want to seek compensation.
What do we want to know?
Did you have a bad experience or have to cancel or postpone travel abroad or a return trip to your home country because of you couldn’t get new travel documents?
What were the problems you faced?
What kind of consequences you are suffering because you couldn’t travel?
How did the authorities handle the situation?
Are you planning to file a complaint or sue because you couldn’t travel?
Our team will not publish any case, name, details or other information from this questionnaire without prior consent. Your responses are secure and encrypted.
We will focus mainly on the problems that citizens without updated travel documents are facing after the expiry of the February 12 deadline, based on the information gained from answers to the questions bellow. Your stories will be used to help us with our ongoing inquiry.
How can you take part?
To submit your experience, just fill out this form. The questionnaire is available in English but also in Macedonian.
You can also contact us via email: [email protected].
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