The “Passport Office”

Setting up a workstation for processing passport documents at the local Administrative Service Centre (ASC) was one of the community’s key projects under the Recovery and Development Plan. In wartime, access to documents has become a matter of security and fundamental rights. The ability to obtain a passport within the community is critically important for older people, large families and internally displaced persons, for whom travelling to district centres can be a serious challenge.

“We now receive calls from other regional centres asking how we managed to do this and who we approached,” says Head of the Village Council Petro Panchenko. “It raises the community’s profile. It’s convenient for our residents: there’s no need to travel elsewhere or stand in queues. You can book an appointment by phone, come at your scheduled time, and submit your documents.”

“Some people apply for passports to travel abroad for medical treatment,” says ASC administrator Oleksandr Sporysh. “Others do it just in case, because if you suddenly need to travel, you cannot get the document in a day. Overall, more internal passports are issued than international ones. The process is not complicated, and the equipment provided by UNDP helps us work quickly.”

Among those who applied for an international passport is Oleksii Ryk, Head of the Land Relations Department of the village council.

“I’m planning a business trip to Moldova on community matters,” Ryk says. “If I hadn’t been able to apply here in Khmeliv, I would have had to travel to nearby Romny and take time off work. I’m glad it can be done locally: it’s close, convenient and without queues. A fellow resident from Kharchenkiv applied for an ID card and said she was very happy that everything could be done within the community.”

Acting Head of the ASC Serhii Karpenko explains that the equipment for the “passport office,” as well as a workstation for issuing driving licences — which is planned to open soon — was provided by UNDP and the Government of Japan.

“This includes two computers, three monitors, two cameras, two printers, a printer for driving licences, devices for fingerprinting and electronic signatures,” Karpenko says. “We currently provide 105 services, and it’s encouraging to see the range of opportunities in the community expanding. Receiving services locally eliminates ‘intermediaries’ and makes the process transparent for all residents.”

Panchenko jokes that he will be the first to come to the ASC to renew his driving licence once the service becomes available, as his current one is worn out.

“Issuing both passports and driving licences are basic services,” Panchenko says. “For us, ‘building back better’ is not just about restoring what was lost, but about creating services that meet European standards – even in a small village.”