Uhuru Extends E-Passport Deadline to March, 2020
Kenyans who are yet to acquire e-passports can breathe a sigh of relief after President Kenyatta extended the validity of old-generation passports to March 2020.
In a statement on Thursday, government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna said President Kenyatta directed relevant ministries to ensure Kenyans are issued with visas on the current passports.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta has today directed Cabinet secretaries for Foreign Affairs and Interior to work with Foreign Missions across the world to facilitate the issuance of visas to Kenyans on the current passports,” said Oguna.
“The directive has in effect, extended the deadline for travel on the new e-passport to March 1, 2020, for all Kenyans.”
The government had previously announced that the old passports would become invalid on September 1st, 2019.
Application for the new digital passports can be done in seven immigration centers countrywide including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kisii, Nakuru, Eldoret, and Embu.
Kenyans in the diaspora can apply for the new passports in six immigration centers abroad.
The six diaspora centers are based in Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), London (United Kingdom), Washington DC (United States), Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Johannesburg (South Africa).
Comments
The Government should come…
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The Government should come out clean and acknowledge that it is impractical and unenforceable to deny Visas, or travel, on unexpired passports, especially if the same passports are recognized by other countries. The deadline for acquiring E-passports will still be extended further, after March 2020. In the end, the Old Passports will be phased out as they expire and are replaced by E-passports.
Indeed they should be issued…
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In reply to The Government should come… by Settled Nomad (not verified)
Indeed they should be issued the epassorts ON EXPIRY. Alternatively pro-rate the amount remaining on my 10-yr assport they said was mandatory then. Do they ever take into account the monies the wananchi lose on these quick fixes?
They never bother to fix the…
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They never bother to fix the problems with their e-citizen website all they do is give baseless deadlines.
Good point @settlednomad…
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Good point @settlednomad. Any news on the LA consulate processing e passports
Uhuru has probably received…
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Uhuru has probably received reports from Matiang'i, about unforseen obstacles. If you invalidate passports of people who are already Overseas, what becomes of the Visas on those passports, issued by other countries? Can the Kenyan government invalidate visas issued by other governments, on a valid passport? What about Kenyans abroad, who have Student Visas on their passports? Mark you, the Visa is a 'Stamp' on the passport, and is the property of the government issuing it. And do Kenyan students abroad have to cut short their studies, so that they can get an 'e-passport'? Mark you, they perforate the Old Passport, so it becomes invalid. So it means that Kenyan students abroad also have to get new visas, from the embassies which originally issued them. Meanwhile, while authorities may forbid Kenyans to travel on Old Passports at JKIA, they cannot forbid Kenyans to travel on the same passports, in other countries. And what excuse will the Immigration Officials at JKIA give, for allowing everyone else, apart from Kenyans, and including Europeans, to travel on Old Passports?
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