Uhuru extends deadline for acquisition of new e-passports
Agency report
Kenyans using non-electronic passports have until March 31, 2020 after President Uhuru Kenyatta directed relevant Cabinet ministries to extend issuance of digital travel documents.
In a press statement on Thursday, July 25, the government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna confirmed Kenyans across the world would be issued with visas on the old passports.
In the meantime, applications for new e-passports will continue countrywide in the Immigration department offices.
Locally, such centres are now available in Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisii and Embu in addition to the existing ones in Mombasa, Nairobi and Kisumu.
“Kenyans can therefore travel on their current old blue passports until March 31, 2020. Kenyans are urged to take advantage of the extension and not wait until the last minutes to apply,” stated Oguna.
The e-passport was an initiative by the East African Community to synchronise passports across the region in order to enhance faster clearance at points of entry and exit.
Prior reports showed the Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua, decreed that all government officers who had not switched to the new digital passport would no longer be able to make foreign trips.
The e-passports were launched in 2017 and the government promised they would be fully in place by August 2019.
Long queues were as applicants tried to beat the deadline prompting government to extend issuance beyond August 31 but remained cagey on the exact date.
