The Directorate of Immigration Services has announced that all old generation passports will not be used for travel or identification as from December 1 2022.
According to a statement that was released by the Directorate, the Director General Alexander Muteshi said that the deadline for switching to the new generation passports will be November 30th, 2022.
“Pursuant to the decision by EAC Council of Minister’s meeting held in Arusha from 22nd to 29th November 2021. the deadline for phasing out of the old generation passport for all EAC member States is November 2022,” the statement from the Directorate of Immigration Services said.
“In line with this decision, the Directorate of Immigration Services wishes to inform the general public that Kenya is bound to migrate fully to the new East African Community biometric e-passport by 30th November 2022.”
Matiang’i: My heartfelt letter to Kenyans as I leave my CS job
Muteshi urged Kenyans to acquire the new generation passports prior to the deadline to avoid delays and inconviences. “Kenyans are therefore hereby advised to acquire the new Biometric e passport to avoid any inconveniences,” he said.
The Government had previously set a deadline of December 31 last year for the phasing out of the old generation passports, according to the Directorate of Immigration Services.
“However, the 41st Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Council of Minister’s held in Arusha from 22nd to 29th November 2021, extended the phasing out period of all EAC member Countries passport to November 2022,” said Muteshi.
Kenya commenced issuing the new East African format ePassport in September 2017 in line with digitization of services.
The new E-Systems are aimed at improving efficiency and rid out loopholes and enhance security a move that is part Kenya’s 2030 vision.
The new bio-metric passport contains the holder’s biodata such as fingerprints, digitally stored photo and signature among others. It also contains a biometric identifier.