Kenyans now to obtain passports within three weeks

According to Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Prof. Julius Bitok, the backlog of applications will be cleared in 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.

Records from the Immigration Department indicate that there are currently 63,265 passport applications pending issuance, with the majority being the popular 34-page A-series.

The backlog has been caused by a shortage of booklets and an increase in demand for passports, particularly by Kenyans seeking employment abroad and students enrolling in foreign institutions.

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 cleared.

Prof. Bitok also urged more Kenyans to use the e-Citizen platform to apply for passports and take advantage of the digitization of government services.