The Guatemalan Institute of Migration (IGM) will receive on Monday, March 24 the offers of companies interested in manufacturing three million cards for passports, after in October 2024 the contract with a company was canceled for irregularities detected by the Comptroller General of Accounts (CGC).
On January 21, the IGM published the tender and the date to present the offers, which will be this Monday, according to the Guatecompras electronic portal.
The security characteristics of the notebooks must be designed to be resistant to threats, such as fraudulent imitation, falsification, suppression and alteration of information, according to the specifications that the company must meet.
The bidder must prove that the manufacturer has at least five years of experience in the manufacture of passport notebooks, with similar characteristics, equal to or higher than those requested in the current tender.
It is also indicated that the notebooks will be given by 12 deliveries, distributed in 555 calendar days counted from the day after the IGM approval notification.
On January 23, during a summons with deputies of the Cabal Bank, Foreign Minister Carlos Martínez said they had 68 thousand cards in the consular headquarters. However, he expressed concern that these are scarce at the demand of the applicants.
The director of the IGM, Alfredo Danilo Rivera, was consulted, who said by text message that “have enough”, although he did not indicate the amount.
On other occasions when the cards have been scarce, adhesives have been placed to validate the document for a longer time.
Complaint
On October 2, 2024, the Supervisor and the Government Coordinator of the Comptroller General of Accounts (CGC) filed a criminal complaint against the Guatemalan Institute of Migration (IGM), for omissions in the process of awarding the contract authorized in March of that year for the purchase of passwords for passports, for Q63 million.
The criminal complaint was filed against the current director of the IGM, Alfredo Danilo Rivera, and the deputy director, Carlos Woltke.
The CGC pointed out five findings or irregularities in the process of awarding the contract for the purchase of passport notebooks, including:
- Lack of determination of the reference price
- Legislation outdated in the content of the budgetary opinion
- Lack of publication in Guatecompras of Documents of the Acquisition Process
- Failure to comply with the bidding bases in the offers qualification
- Failure to comply with the State Contracting Law in the approval of the award
On March 19, 2024, a single offer from the Standard Forms company was received to provide the IGM for one million 500 thousand passport notebooks, at a unit cost of Q42, for a total value of Q63 million.
That same day, the bidding board decided to grant the contract to Standard forms, the same company that nine months before had won a contract with the same characteristics, but for a total of Q57.3 million.
The CGC, when reviewing the award process, stressed in the first instance that the reference price was not included, which constitutes an omission to the norm.
The IGM presented its discharges, in which it argued: “The norm is not imperative in using a reference price established by the National Statistics Institute, for not framing in the modalities of an open contract and reverse electronic auction (…) estimated it taking into consideration the market price, which is under conditions of competition.”
The cards that the IGM bought in 2023 cost each Q38.25, and those acquired in March following the same company were Q3.75 more expensive. The CGC did not accept the discharge presented.
Breach
In the Comptroller’s audit report it was indicated that the Bidding Board breached the bidding bases, by qualifying the company forms standard, a corporation, when it was presented only two of five possible certifications, so it could not obtain the maximum puncture.
The General Directorate of Migration accepted the aforementioned response, giving continuity to the acquisition process, ignoring the breach of the qualification bases by the qualification board, details the audit report.
Another of the findings refers that the Deputy Director General of Migration acted in replacement of the Director General by issuing the resolution to award the purchase and approve what the Bidding Board is approved, when the Migration Code stipulates that the deputy director replaces the director only in case of absence of this. That is, it does not assume the quality of general director, it only acts in substitution, it reasons the CGC.
In July 2023, among 43 disagreements of the participating companies, Migration awarded the company Forms Standar, Sociedad Anónima, the purchase of passports for Q57 million. The company is a state contractor since 2004, according to Guatecompras records.
Option
On March 3, the IGM announced that Guatemalans can extend the validity of their passport for up to 18 months at no cost or up to three years by means of a payment.
According to that institution, this measure seeks to optimize resources in the issuance and consulate offices, while representing an economic relief.
For this procedure, the interested party does not need a new photography, since the original information of the notebook is maintained. The only thing that changes is the update of the document expiration date. This provision allows to reduce the demand for new passports and expedite attention to applicants, according to the IGM. This option is available both within the country and abroad through consulates.
The extension can be requested only once for each passport notebook. For example, if a person requested an extension of 18 months in April 2025, his passport will have a new expiration date in October 2026.
However, if the passport still has leaves available for stamps, a second extension can no longer be requested and a renewal must be processed. It is not necessary to make an appointment, they should only present themselves during customer service and consider not doing so two hours before closing.
In addition to the 18 -month free extension, an validity extension of up to three years can also be requested, which costs US $ 20 for residents in Guatemala and US $ 25 for Guatemalans abroad.