Kenyans are rushing to apply for the new generation passports ahead of the August 31st deadline.
It has been a beehive of activity at the Immigration headquarters at Nyayo House in Nairobi in the past few weeks as Kenyans continue to endure long queues in search of the digital passports.
Kenyans seeking to acquire the e-passport have been arriving at the center as early as 3 am, hours before service delivery begins at 8 am.
When the publication visited the immigration station at around 5 am on Friday, more than 700 applicants were already queuing, painting a picture of how hard it is to acquire the new passports.
The opening of four new immigration stations in the country and six in the diaspora appears not to have eased congestion at Nyayo House.
The new e-passports centers in the country are located in Kisii, Embu, Eldoret, and Nakuru.
Immigration Director-General Alex Muteshi said the new stations would serve at least 1,500 people daily.
E-passport centers abroad are found in Johannesburg (South Africa), Berlin (Germany) London (United Kingdom), Paris (France) Washington DC (the United States and Dubai (UAE).
Kenyans took to social media to express their frustrations over how the government was handling the issuance of the smart passports.
“It is 0340h in the morning. There are more than 300 people already at Nyayo House. This government is a joke,” Curtis said.
Chris Odemba noted: “This is the inefficiency of the highest order.”
James Mutinda said:“When I discovered it would take months of queuing at Nyayo House and never get immigration services, I decided to tour Kisumu City and make my replacement from there.”
Edwin Gichuru lamented:“I queued for nine hours at Nyayo House to get a passport. The government should do something about it.”
The digital passport, which is embedded with an electronic chip, is part of global efforts to curb travel fraud by making it difficult to produce a fake passport.
Kenya pledged to shift to e-Passports from September 1st as part of its commitment to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.
How is this even remotely…
How is this even remotely acceptable? Can’t the government come up with system that does not lead to such frustration and waste of time. Who is in charge here? How about a transition period of couple of months that way people get the new passports as the need arises. This is not rocket science. No wonder Kenya is still a third world country.
Anybody aware if the New…
Anybody aware if the New York office is processing e-passports? They do not respond to phone calls.
New York isn’t processing. …
New York isn’t processing. Just DC
Unbelievable!!!!!!!
Unbelievable!!!!!!!
Id, passport, hutuma numba…
Id, passport, hutuma numba do not have deadline. They will just stop mass production but anybody who will need them after those fake deadline will get them. They should state those date are deadline for mass production.
I was in dc today..point to…
I was in dc today..point to note
1. apply online
2.make payments..online..there was no option at counter to pay..be it visa credit etc.
3.print out forms..plus copies of birth certificate. Old passport.check list as guideline.
4. take 3 passport size photos
prepare for private parking in advance if driving
Huduma number was pap..10 minute..
I saw dedicated staff today..with time mambo itakuwa sawa.
Kudos
What is the point of getting…
What is the point of getting e-passport if you have no plan to travel outside Kenya in the next couple of years? I guess not everybody who is lining up in Nyayo house will travel soon.
I am not going to acquire an…
I am not going to acquire an E-passport, or a huduma number. And I am going to travel to Kenya, after September 1st, with my old, unexpired Kenyan passport.
Good luck
Good luck