Jamaica Consulate NYC: Unprofessional and hostile customer Service 

In April of 2024 I decided to renew my Jamaican passport.

I went to the website of the Jamaica Consulate to seek information on what was needed to renew my Jamaican passport.

Here are the details on the website:

Renewing Adult Passport

You are required to obtain and complete an application form. Along with your application form you will be required to submit the following documents:

• Current Passport
• Birth Certificate/Adoption Certificate or Jamaican Citizenship Certificate
• Two (2) identical Photographs ( NB//: one photograph must be certified by the same certifying official who certified your application)
• Proof of name Change if name has been changed (Marriage Certificate, Deed poll, Divorce Decree, Court Order)

I went Walgreens and took two beautiful passport size photographs and get one of the photos notarized.

I brought all the relevant documents to the Consulate on the day of the appointment.

When I arrived, they told me the photos will not be accepted because they do not fit the standard of what was required. After interrogating the matter, I was told my hair need to be behind my ears.

I paid to retake the photos on the premises of the Jamaica Consulate by one of their photographers on site who are working with the Jamaica Consulate.

After waiting more than three months until late July 2024, I went to the Jamaica consulate website to see if there is any update on my passport. To my surprise, there were no avenue to check the status of my passport. I began to call. I called and called for days on end but to no avail. No one was answering the telephones.

I went back to the website to see if there was an option to set up an appointment to get information regarding passport updates but there was no such option on the website. I decided to go to the embassy but I was not allowed in because I did not have an appointment.

I came back home and made an appointment stating I am trying to renew my passport because this was the closet option to what I needed.

It is now more than five months since I have applied to renew my passport.

I arrived at the Jamaican Consulate and initiated to get answer on what happened to my passport.

At first, I was told to wait then I requested to speak to a manager. The woman came to the window and asked what is the problem. I explained the situation to her and she asked for the receipt.

About 20 to 30 minutes later, she came back to say my photos were rejected.

I initiated to ask her how could they be rejected when they were taken by their photographers?

She said, I should calm down, I am shouting. I said to her I am not shouting I just want to know how could this have happened? She insisted on telling me to calm down without trying to answer my question. I told her to not gaslight me, I need answers.

She walked away and said she will not assist me further. Mind you this is the supervisor.

I tried to get the attention of a man who I believed is part of the management team. His initial response was to pretend as if I was a nuisance and ignore the situation.

The customer service agent who assisted me in April, called me to the window and said he remembers me and that he will “help me out.” He began to be very nonchalant about the situation with emphasis on “that why me ago help you out.”

I let him know that despite I appreciated his effort on addressing the issues, I do not want to be patronize as if they are doing me a favour. I let him know that there is a problem that need to be addressed and this is the duty and responsibility of the Jamaica Consulate to address the issue in a professional manner.

I told him I will not pay to retake the photos because I already paid for them.

He sent me over to the photographer to retake the photos.

I told the photographer that he should make sure these photos are clear because I do not want the same issue to occur again.

He said, AGAIN? I did not take your photos! He was very defensive. I said to him, I just don’t need another problem with the photos. He got very annoyed and said he is not even charging me. He is just trying to help me and if I continue, he will not help me.

Mind you, I already paid THEM to take the photos and from what they are saying Jamaica rejected the photos because they are dark. Therefore, it is their responsibility to retake the photos free of charge. Nevertheless, he insisted he doing me a favour and HELPING ME OUT.

I got the attention of the man who I believed is part of the management team, he came over and insisted for me to calm down. He made no attempt to address the situation of my passport being rejected and why I was not informed of the problem. His emphasis was suggesting I am being problematic and a nuisance, causing problems.

After taking the photographs, I went back to the customer service agent to helped me on my first visit and who had decided to assist me again. He began to listen to me and I outlined the problem to him.

I pointed out that I brought my photographs and those were rejected.

I paid to take photos with their in-housed photographer and I do not understand why those were also rejected. I also pointed out to him that no one reached out to me to let me know the photos were rejected and I cannot get anyone on the phone.

He said the Jamaica Consulate just found out the photos were rejected upon my arrival at the Consulate.

I outlined to him there is a failure within the system and something need to be done about it. I also pointed out that no one made any effort to hear me out or to officially address the issue with me. Everyone seem to be avoiding to speak about the problem and instead, suggesting I am problematic for pointing out the issue. At this time, he was very gracious, he listened and said he clearly understood the situation.

Before leaving the embassy, I insisted on speaking to the man who is part of the management team.

He came out and said he do not have time to talk to me. I told him that this situation must be addressed. He tried to shoo me but I insisted. At one point I told him I will meet with Prime Minister Holness on his upcoming visit to NYC and bring the situation to his attention.

He said I cannot threaten him with that. I told him it is not a threat, I will in fact bring the situation to Prime Minister Holness’ attention upon his visit to New York.

He eventually spoke to me and explained that there are more instances whereby the passport photos were rejected. He said when they lose passport photos down there in Jamaica they come back with some flimsy excuse.

He also said, it is not the responsibility of the Jamaica Consulate to contact me, it is the responsibility of the passport office in Jamaica. He went to say, the Jamaica Consulate has extricated itself from the problems of the passport office. He pointed out to some white desks and said those desks are there to put the Jamaica passport office staffers to address passport problems.

I asked him when will the process begin, he swiftly in a blunt kind of rude manner, saying “I DON’T KNOW.” Implying I shouldn’t ask him.

He tried to explain to me that the issue with my passport is no fault of the Jamaica Consulate.

I pointed out to him that it is hard for me to see it that way because I applied for my passport at the Jamaica Consulate and there is an obvious problem that needs attention.

I let him know that there needs to be better coordination between the Jamaica Consulate in NYC and the passport office in Jamaica. I suggested that there should be a solution to the problem and this kind of ineffective response to this ongoing problem with the losing photographs and rejection of photographs must be resolved. There must be a better and more effective process of dealing with applying for renewal of passport.

I also let him know that a digital and computerized system could also solve the problem and the lack of over the phone communication and website updates must be addressed.

He said there are budget shortages and that is part of the problem.

He quickly shooed me out of the Consulate.

In conclusion, there must be better accountability of the part of the employees at the Jamaica consulate. The solution cannot be avoiding the issue and create a hostile customer service environment to deter Jamaicans from address the issues. They need better training on how to handle these problems.

The solution cannot be to ignore, shoo or gaslight the customers when they highlight a valid point.

They need to understand that they are not doing us any favours and it is their duty and responsibility to make sure our passports arrive on time without problems and if there is a problem, it is their responsibility to get in touch with us to address those problems.

The government of Jamaica must set up an in housed computerized system to upload photos and approved documents so both the Jamaica Consulate and the passport office has digital eyes on the documents. Lastly, there must be a way to track the progress of passports on the website of the Jamaica consulate or a link to the passport office to track the progress out passports