Immigration and Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok has announced that Kenyans will now receive their passports within 21days from the time ...
Immigration and Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok has announced that Kenyans will now receive their passports within 21days from the time of application. This is a relief to many Kenyans who have been complaining about the long passport processing time after application.
PS Julius Bitok stated, “It will take you 21 days to receive your passport if you apply on the e-Citizen platform.”
The government also plans to clear the backlog for passports within 21 days after receiving 112,700 passport booklets. Also, getting two new printers and over a million passport booklets by the end of the month should help with this effort.
“This evening, we received printing booklets, a pivotal step in enhancing service delivery within the immigration department. With two new printers set to arrive by the end of this month and over 1 million booklets procured, expected to arrive soon,”
The PS stated on X.
Passport Backlog
Immigration Department Records show that there are currently 63,265 pending passport applications, with the majority being the popular 34-page A-series.
The backlog was blamed on a shortage of booklets and a rise in demand for passports, especially among Kenyans seeking employment abroad and students enrolling in foreign institutions.
To solve this, the PS proposed partnering with investors for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to produce and print the passports locally in Kenya.
He said, “We are in talks with investors for Public-Private Partnerships (PPT) so that we can manufacture and print these documents here in Kenya,”
Out of the new shipment received, 92,400 booklets had 50 pages, while 20,300 had 66 pages. Additionally, 50,000 booklets with 50 pages had been received earlier.
Since there is a shortage of the 34-page booklets, PS Bitok recommended that applicants needing passports urgently consider upgrading to 50-page ones.
“The issuance of passports will be prioritized on a first-in-first-out basis. Applicants with pending 34-page passports who have an urgent need to travel are advised to upgrade their applications to the 50-page booklet.”
PS Bitok said.
Apply on eCitizen
Prof. Bitok encouraged more Kenyans to leverage the digitization of government services by using the e-Citizen platform for passport applications.
He also advised applicants with pending or uncollected passports to track their application status by texting their e-Citizen application reference code to 22222.
By Vivian K.
The post KENYANS TO RECEIVE PASSPORTS WITHIN 21 DAYS appeared first on BNN.
