Madagascar tests new passport portal to move applications, payments and tracking online

Madagascar is testing a new passport application portal as it prepares to expand the administrative steps citizens can complete online.

• Madagascar is testing a platform to simplify passport applications.
• The proposed service would bring submissions, payments and tracking online.
• Applicants would still attend in person for biometric capture and signing.
• It builds on online appointment services already available in the country.

The Ministry of Digital Development, Posts and Telecommunications says technicians are conducting functional tests of the platform, called e-Pasipaoro.

The proposed service would cover first applications, renewals and replacements for passports that have been lost, stolen or damaged.

Applicants would be able to create accounts, complete forms, upload supporting documents, pay fees and track their applications. Biometric capture and signing would still require their physical presence.

According to 2424.mg’s report published on 11 October⁠, the ministry’s aim is to simplify administrative procedures and reduce the time applicants spend completing formalities.

The outlet cites demonstration-site estimates of about 18 working days for local-office applications and 12 for consular applications, after receipt of complete files. These exclude passport production and collection and should therefore not be read as delivery deadlines.

The initiative builds on an existing digital service. Madagascar’s official passport website⁠ already lets applicants request appointments either with supporting documents or without submitting their files beforehand.

An official cabinet record dated 13 March 2024 confirms that online appointment requests were already operational. At the time, the government said 21.82 per cent of people needing passports had made an online request, with a target of increasing online appointment requests to 50 per cent within its 100-day programme.

The cabinet identified shorter queues and the removal of touts and intermediaries as objectives. It also described plans for a single payment window through which the public treasury could receive passport production fees directly.

The planned portal would extend this earlier work by bringing more application stages into one online service. Its practical value will depend on whether those functions work reliably once public access begins.