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Interior CS Fred Matiang’i had set the last date for application of new passports to be done by August 2019. Photo: UGC Source: UGC
Government to open new immigration offices in 4 counties, diaspora
New offices are set to be opened to ease the process of application for e-passports – Four offices are set to be opened in the country and six others in the diaspora – Already, over 400,000 Kenyans have replaced their passports with the digital one The Department of Immigration has said it will open new offices across the country and others in the diaspora to fasten and ease the mostly tedious application of the travel document. The department will open four offices in Nakuru, Kisii, Eldoret and Embu which will aid in the distribution of over 1,500 passport applications on a daily basis in the country.
According to NTV, Director General of Immigration, Alex Muteshi, said they were working on a plan to open six other offices in the diaspora within the next two months. “We are also going to open six more stations abroad including Washington (United States of America), London (United Kingdom), Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Johannesburg (South Africa),” said Muteshi. In the recent past days, the number of passport applicants has gone high following the recent migration to the e-passport.
According to Muteshi, already over 400,000 Kenyans have received their new digital passports with a majority making applications at the Immigration Department headquarters in Nairobi. He said the new plan to launch the offices is set to ease congestion which has often been witnessed at the headquarters following the rush to meet the deadline for application of the new travel document. The government had initially planned to phase out old passports and replace them with electronic ones by August 2019.
However, due to low uptake of the new document, Deputy President William Ruto announced the deadline would be pushed to 2020. The Immigration Department had earlier outlined the e-passport application requirements on its social media pages, basically to educate Kenyans on how to acquire or migrate to the new document.. According to the department, those applying for the new passport must submit original ID and a copy, original birth certificate and a copy, recommender’s ID copy, online filled forms, three (3) invoices, three (3) passport size photos, and copies of their parents’ IDs. Read more: https://www.tuko.co.ke/
Source: TUKO.CO.KE
