Civil Status and Registration Office
Summary of Information
The IMA received information regarding an EU citizen experiencing a delay in receiving a blue Civilian Registration Card (CRC) in Gibraltar.
All Gibraltar residents are required to hold an identify card or a Civilian Registration Card. Red cards are issued to Gibraltarians and British citizens with right of permanent residence in Gibraltar. Magenta cards are issued to British nationals, Blue cards are issued to EU nationals and Green cards are issued to non-EU nationals. The delay was caused by a change of legislation which required the CRC to be changed. The legislation did not implicate the red Identification card in Gibraltar, which meant the red cards were not subject to the same delays
Summary of Actions and Evidence
Having carefully considered the issues identified in the information received, in combination with wider intelligence gathered, pre-inquiry investigations were conducted into the Civil Status and Registration Office (CSRO) in Gibraltar to seek clarity around the concerns identified.
CSRO have stated that the delay was caused by an upsurge in applications for Civilian Registration Cards. Due to legislative changes, the card body needed modification. This subsequently meant the card provider’s production system needed updating to implement these modifications. This resulted in inevitable stoppages in production which caused a backlog.
This backlog and subsequent delay has been resolved and CRC processing times are back at the targeted six weeks.
CSRO have confirmed that no changes have been required to the system in respect of identity cards and no modifications to the red ID card body have been necessary which has meant the delay experienced for the blue CRC has not affected the red ID cards.
The delays were communicated to applicants upon enquiry to CSRO and through a press release 363/2021 on gibraltar.gov.gi
Summary of Decision
The IMA considers that the actions undertaken by CSRO have resolved the potential systemic concerns identified and does not require any IMA intervention at this time.
Furthermore, the IMA considers that it would not be proportionate and or reasonable to continue to explore this issue further by way of inquiry at this time.
For the avoidance of doubt, this resolution would not preclude the IMA from acting further should matters of concern in relation to this issue arise again in the future. The IMA would encourage affected citizens to continue to report any issues whether related to this issue or otherwise.
