Immigration Division now working on the establishment of Border Management System

By Eliza Kukutu

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour, and Immigration through the Immigration Division is now working on the establishment of a Border Management System (BMS) for the country.

Permanent Secretary, Mr. Riley Mesepitu confirmed this to SIBC News.

The BMS aims to strengthen the country’s border security.

Mesepitu said work on setting up the system is progressing well with consultations now ongoing.

“We are now working on establishing a new Border Management system for Solomon Islands. The Australian Government has agreed to provide funding support for this, and Papua New Guinea Immigration will be helping us in setting up this system.”

“Meetings have been conducted between stakeholders and consultation is also ongoing,” he said.

The establishment of the new BMS is part of the Immigration Divisions reforms and restructuring aimed at improving its service delivery.

Others include the decentralization of passport services to the provinces and conducting training programs for staff.

Mr. Mesepitu said the establishment of the new BMS will also lead to the development of a new visa regime.

“The BMS will pave the way for online visa processing so applications for visas can be done online as done by our neighboring countries.

Fees will be charged for online visa applications so that we can get revenue from them to support the economy.”

The division last year trained and recruited 22 officers and assures to recruit another 85 by 2026 to meet the demand of officers needed to carry out duties in the immigration division and border security.

Mr. Mesepitu said with the establishment of the BMS, more trainings will be conducted for staff.

“More trainings will be conducted for Immigration Staff because BMS is one of the fundamental functions and service that the division will be rolling out.

“So, we need staff to be well trained on border management.”

ENDS//