800,000 Kenyans Acquire e-Passports Ahead of August Deadline
About 800,000 Kenyans have acquired e-passports ahead of August 31st deadline, the Immigration Department has revealed.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Administration and National Security, Immigration Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa said the department is handling an average of 4,000 passport applicants per day.
Kihalangwa said the immigration offices in Nyayo House serve about 2,000 applicants daily while the Kisumu and Mombasa centers handle 1,000 each.
“So far we have issued almost 800,000 passports and we expect a very good number will have been done by 31st August,” said Kihalangwa.
Those seeking the new generation travel documents must present themselves in immigration centers for their biometrics, including photograph and fingerprints, to be captured.
The digital passport, which is embedded with an electronic chip, is part of global efforts to curb travel fraud by making it difficult to produce a fake passport.
Kenya pledged to shift to digital passports from September 1st as part of its commitment to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.
This was after the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was accorded Category One status in 2017.
Kihalangwa said four more centers will be opened in the country to ease the congestion at the current stations.
The government is also set to launch six centers abroad to serve Kenyans in the diaspora. The centers will be based in Pretoria (South Africa) London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Dubai (UAE) Washington (United States), and Beijing (China).
Comments
What does August deadline…
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What does August deadline mean? Will government not be issuing passports after that?
Exactly!! This government is…
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In reply to What does August deadline… by Ben (not verified)
Exactly!! This government is seemingly being run by emotions of threatening it's citizens...si wakuje polepole the way they came for our votes.
Why not Los Angeles?
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Why not Los Angeles?
Have they started the…
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Have they started the process in our D.C embassy on R street yet ?
If it is indicated in your…
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If it is indicated in your US passport that you were born in Kenya, can you use it to travel to Kenya, instead of a Kenyan one? I have never gotten a clear answer. Do you need a Visa, or would the passport and ID be enough? This muddy passport business in Kenya make these questions necessary.
You'll be paying $50 entry…
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In reply to If it is indicated in your… by Settled Nomad (not verified)
You'll be paying $50 entry fee and they'll give you a three months visa,best thing is to get the new passport
@seetled nomad you can…
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@seetled nomad you can travel with your US passport but upon arrival at JKIA they will not allow to stamp your US passport, you will have to give them the Kenyan passport to be stamped in order for you to go through, if not you will have to buy the visa at the window at the airport in JKIA which will be placed in your US passport.
Thanks Vinny. I don't think…
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In reply to @seetled nomad you can… by vinny (not verified)
Thanks Vinny. I don't think that they can refuse to stamp my Kenyan passport, simply because it is not an E-passport. And l am only going to renew it when it expires. I am going to dance to the tune of the Law, not to the mood of the person in charge of the Immigration Department.
Deadline means that old…
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Deadline means that old style passports will not be valid for travel starting Sep 1.
So what are they going to do…
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So what are they going to do, because people will still be allowed to board Aeroplanes, in other countries, with the old passport? Are they going to detain Kenyan passport holders at the Airport? Or deport them to where they came from?
@ settled Nomad....LOL..ati…
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@ settled Nomad....LOL..ati deport them! Personally I think this whole new passport, pin number, huduma number, new nationa ID kerfuffle has exhausted some of us. My passport is valid and if i have to get a new one then please reimburse me part of the money that i used to get the UNEXPIRED one that i still have. Some of us actually work for our money. I am still trying to figure out why I should fly from the south to Washington D.C and spend a couple of hundred dollars, just to get the service.
No country in the world will…
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No country in the world will accept the old Kenyan passport after August 31st 2019. You can get the e-passport at your own convenience but be warned that you cannot travel across borders without an e-passport starting Sep 1st 2019. This chip embedded e-passport requirement is international. Don't plan any foreign trips that will spill into September if you don't have an e-passport. It takes months to have the new passport mailed to you after completing your application and biometrics in person at the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC.
They say it takes 2 weeks…
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They say it takes 2 weeks but mine has taken 1 month yet no progress.Kitu kidogo country!!
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