Before a worker's BMET registration and smart card leave the agency's hands, staff should check every detail on them against the passport and the visa, letter by letter and number by number. A mistake found at the desk is a correction; a mistake found at the airport can mean a missed flight. This guide covers what to check, when, and who should do it.
Why this check belongs to the agency
The worker usually cannot check it. Many workers do not read the documents closely, and even those who do have no reason to know that one transposed letter matters. The agency is the only party in the chain that has the passport, the visa and the registration on the same desk at the same time.
The current requirements for BMET registration, training and clearance are set by BMET and change from time to time. Confirm them against the current BMET circular and guidance rather than an office checklist written a year ago. What follows is about checking accuracy, which does not change.
What to compare, field by field
Whatever details the registration and the card carry, each one should be checked against its source document:
- The worker's name, against the passport, exactly. Not the name as the worker says it, not the spelling on an older certificate.
- The passport number, character by character. Letters and digits that look alike, such as O and 0 or I and 1, are the usual culprits.
- Date of birth, against the passport. Watch for day and month swapped.
- Parents' names, if they appear, against the passport and the passenger record.
- Destination country and employer, against the visa and the demand.
- Profession or job title, against the visa. A profession that differs between the visa and the registration is a question someone at the airport may ask.
- The photograph, against the worker standing in front of you.
When to check
Check at two moments:
- When the registration details are first prepared, before anything is submitted. This is the cheap moment.
- When the card and documents come back, before they go into the file for delivery. This catches anything that changed in between.
Checking only at the end means any mistake found requires going back through the process.
Who should check
Someone other than the person who prepared it. The person who typed a name is the person least able to see it is wrong, because they read what they meant to type. A second reader with the passport in hand is the cheapest control an office has.
For offices with high volume, it helps to have one person responsible for this check on every file, so it never falls between two desks.
Common problems worth watching for
- Name order. Given name and family name in a different order from the passport.
- Abbreviations. "MD" on one document and "Mohammad" on another.
- A renewed passport. If the worker's passport was renewed during processing, every document has to carry the new number, and the old number has a habit of surviving somewhere.
- Training details. The training certificate should be for the right worker and should carry the same name spelling.
- Expiring dates. Check the passport validity and medical validity against the expected departure, not just against today.
What to do when something is wrong
Stop the file there. Write down what is wrong and who found it, and correct it through the proper channel before anything else is done on the file. A file that carries on with a known error and a plan to fix it later is the file that reaches the airport with the error still on it.
Where EmbassyFile helps
EmbassyFile does not connect to BMET's systems, and nothing here should be read as saying it does. What it does is keep one passenger record as the master copy to compare against: passport number, issue date, a calculated expiry date, date of birth and parents' names in one place. The ManPower Section records each file's manpower status and send date, and every move of a passport between desks is logged with who moved it and why.
Key points
- Check every detail on the registration and the card against the passport and the visa, not against memory.
- Check when details are prepared and again when documents come back.
- The checker should be someone other than the person who prepared the details.
- A renewed passport is a common source of an old number surviving on one document.
- Confirm current BMET requirements against the latest BMET circular.
Frequently asked questions
What should I check on a worker's BMET smart card?
Check every detail it carries against the source document: the name and passport number against the passport, the destination and employer against the visa, and the photograph against the worker. Any difference should be corrected before the file moves on.
Who should verify BMET registration details in an agency?
A second member of staff who did not prepare the details, with the passport and visa in hand. The person who typed a mistake is the one least likely to notice it.
What happens if the passport is renewed during processing?
Every document in the file then needs the new passport number. Check each one, because the old number often survives on at least one of them.
Where can I find the current BMET registration requirements?
From BMET itself, through its current circulars and official guidance. Requirements change, so confirm them rather than relying on an older checklist.