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The new East African Community passport. [File, Standard]
You have until November 30, 2022, to acquire the new East African Community (EAC) biometric e-passport, Immigration Director General Alexander Muteshi now says.
The deadline to phase out old generation passports for all EAC member states is November 2022, according to an agreement reached during the EAC Council of Minister's meeting held in Arusha, Tanzania last year.
"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 EAC biometric e-passport by Nov 30, 2022," Muteshi noted.
"Kenyans are hereby advised to acquire the new biometric e-passport to avoid any inconvenience."
This means the dark-blue passports will be invalid.
Long queues are witnessed at the Department of Immigration Services in Nyayo House during the application for e-passports. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]
The government had extended the previous deadline from December 31 last year to November 2022, to allow more Kenyans to acquire the new e-passport.
The process to acquire new passports had turned into a nightmare for many Kenyans who were forced to spend long hours in the endless queues at Nyayo House, Nairobi.
EAC directed its members to begin issuance of the new digital passport by January 31, 2018.
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