Kenya’s Directorate of Immigration Services has announced to the public that Kenya is bound to migrate fully to the new East African Community biometric e-passport by 30th November 2022.
While making the announcement, Immigration Director-General Alexander Muteshi told Kenyan citizens to acquire a digital passport by the end of November to avoid inconveniences.
The East African Community (EAC) ministers in November last year agreed to phase out the old passports for all member states by November this year.
EAC e-passport has a special chip that holds the information that is printed on the data page such as the holder’s name and biometric data such as fingerprints and digital photos.
Kenya’s immigration started issuing digital passports back in September 2017. The e-passport allows citizens of East African Community Regional Bloc i.e Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo to leave and enter member countries freely using e-gates without seeking clearance from the immigration officers.