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A total of 574 completed passports at the Tema Regional Immigration Office, have not been collected by their owners, Assistant Director of Immigration, Emmanuel Otchere-Boakye, Tema Regional Immigration Commander, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema on Thursday. Mr Otchere-Boakye said some of the passports had stayed in the Regional Immigration Office since 1999. He said out of the 574 passports, 74 were released in 1999, 29 in 2000, 34 in 2001, 41 in 2002 and 42 in 2003. With the rest, he said, 124 were released in 2004, 30 in 2005, 41 in 2006, 87 in 2007 and 72 in 2008. Mr Otchere-Boakye appealed to the public, especially passport applicants, to frequently check from the office and collect their passports. He said applicants must exercise some patience after applying, as the Service would make available to them their passports, whenever they were released by the Passport Office, the statutory body responsible for the issuance of passports in the country. The Regional Immigration Commander indicated that last year, the office, received a total of 1,966 applications, consisting, of new applicants, and the renewal of old passports. Mr Otchere-Boakye said, last year, a total of 1,724 completed passports were released to the Regional GIS Office from the Passport Office. He explained that the number released was not necessarily approved application from the same year as it included backlogs from 2008. The Regional Immigration Commander, pleaded with the public not to use dubious means to acquire passports, and other national documents as one could be prosecuted when caught.