Kenya's Immigration Department Makes Clarification on Issuance of e-Passports
Kenya's Immigration Department says the issuance of e-passports will continue even after the deadline for phasing out the old passports elapses on August 31st.
In a statement, the department clarified that it is the validity of the old-generation passports that expire on August 31st.
“The long queues witnessed are due to a misconception that people will not be allowed to apply for the e-passport after the end of August. These are the fears we as Government want to allay,” Immigration Director-General Alex Muteshi said.
The clarification comes after long queues were witnessed at the Immigration headquarters at Nyayo House, Nairobi this week as Kenyans rushed to beat the deadline.
It emerged that Kenyans seeking to acquire the smart passports were arriving at the center as early as 3 am.
Last week, the department opened four new e-passports stations in the country and six in the diaspora.
The local stations are located in Nakuru, Kisii, Eldoret, and Embu. The government said the new centers are expected to process about 1,500 applications daily.
New e-passport issuance centers abroad are found in Johannesburg (South Africa), Berlin (Germany) London (United Kingdom), Paris (France) Washington DC (the United States and Dubai (UAE).
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.
Comments
One wonder why something as…
Permalink
One wonder why something as basic information as this would be so hard for a government to communicate effectively to its citizens! Ati they went to Harvard and other Ivy League Universities! One may think they bought their certificates!
'It is the Validity of the…
Permalink
'It is the Validity of the Old Passports that expires'. The International Community has not imposed these guidelines to their Citizens. That means that it will only be the Kenyan Government, which will be trying to impose this rule(unsuccessfully), to block Kenyans, from traveling abroad. Ps... If you don't have a Kenyan passport, this bullshit does not apply to you. They are probably going to try and block Kenyan passport holders with old passports, from exiting JKIA on September 1st. Then the question will arise... Why can you fly from JKIA, in Kenya, on an Old and tattered passport, unless you are a Kenyan?
Me not aware..my passport is…
Permalink
Me not aware..my passport is valid until 2023..unless otherwise I will upgrade when that time comes..I guess I will be having a 50D for visa worst case scenarion as a tourist.just incase +254 becomes hard to visit
Old generation Kenyan…
Permalink
Old generation Kenyan passports will become invalid worldwide on 1st September 2019. No country will allow holders to travel internationally. There's no rush or deadline to obtain an e-passport unless you plan on crossing national borders. Feel free to keep your old version until you decide to go on a cruise, visit friends in Canada, or take a vacation to Jamaica or Mexico.
Supposing I am abroad, on a…
Permalink
In reply to Old generation Kenyan… by Mumbi (not verified)
Supposing I am abroad, on a Student Visa. My classes, or Visa will be ending in October. Will I be allowed to go back home when the time comes, or do I have to cancel my classes, so that I can go back to Kenya, to get another passport and Visa? And if the Visa on the Passport is Valid, how can the Passport itself be Invalid? I don't think that these rules were discussed, before being announced. They are not going to be enforceable. The Government will eventually announce that no one will be forced to renew a passport, unless it is expired. They have no way to enforce their requirements outside Kenya, and the Constitution forbids them from discriminating against Kenyans at JKIA. For that is what they will be doing, because other countries don't require their citizens to have E-passports, and Kenya cannot deny them access to Aeroplanes because of a Kenyan requirement.
@Mumbi, E-passports are not…
Permalink
In reply to Old generation Kenyan… by Mumbi (not verified)
@Mumbi, E-passports are not a requirement of IATA, which regulates International travel. It is a requirement of Kenya's Immigration Department, and it cannot impose its will on non Kenyans. People with valid passports will still be allowed to board Aeroplanes, even at JKIA, in September. Reason? You don't need to show anybody your passport, to buy an Airline ticket. And Airport staff have no legal right to prevent you from boarding an aeroplane, if you have paid the fare, and have a valid passport. What most people don't appreciate is that most Aeroplanes departing JKIA are not Kenya Airways, and most passport holders departing from JKIA are not Kenyans. They are not subject to rules imposed by the Government, on Kenyans. What reason are they going to give, for refusing Kenyans to board Aeroplanes, with Old Passports, while allowing Ugandans and Tanzanians to board the same plane, with Old Passports? Mark you, they have no power to deny anyone else, but Kenyans. And if the reasoning is security with E-passports, has this purpose not already been defeated, if others without E-passports have been allowed to board the same plane?
Waoh , so it took complaints…
Permalink
Waoh , so it took complaints to feel the need to communicate, useless govt, I was going to ride it on and disregarded the fake deadline - I knew it!
Bull crap
Permalink
Bull crap
Why are they not opening…
Permalink
Why are they not opening centers in Mexico yet we have students studying there with old generation passport
E-pass ports are not yet…
Permalink
E-pass ports are not yet issues in e.g. Berlin or Stockholm and these embassies give conflicting information if any.
Add new comment