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Thursday, April 6, 2023 –Thousands of Kenyans who have been waiting for their passports can now be sure of receiving the booklets in just weeks’ time.
More than 60,000 applicants who have been on queue awaiting their passports will finally receive them within a three-week period. The Interior Immigration Ministry has made the confirmation on Wednesday April 5.
Citizen Services Principal Secretary Prof. Julius Bitok announced that the backlog of applications will be cleared in the next 21 days after the government received over 100,000 passport blank booklets.
“It will take you 21 days to receive your passport if you apply on the e-Citizen platform,” the PS said on Wednesday .
Data from the Immigration Department indicates that there are currently 63,265 passport applications pending issuance.
Bitok defended the delay saying backlog had been caused by a shortage of booklets and an increase in demand for passports as hundreds of Kenyans scramble to leave the country for greener pastures abroad.
To address the problem, PS Bitok has revealed that the government is in talks with potential investors to invest in local manufacturing of passports, for faster and comparatively cheaper supplies.
“We’re in talks with investors for Public-Private Partnerships (PPT) so that we can manufacture and print these documents here in Kenya,” said the PS.
With the new delivery, the backlog of 15,358 A-series, 10,045 B-series, and 37,810 C-series passports that were queued due to the booklet shortage will now be issued in weeks time.
Bitok also urged more Kenyans to make use the e-Citizen platform to apply for passports and take advantage of the digitization of government services.
