State Introduces Appointment System For E-passport Applicants

The Department of immigration has introduced an appointment system that will require all e-passport applicants to make early bookings online before visiting the passport centers.

The new system requires that anyone who will be applying for a passport online will have to first visit the e-citizen portal and book a convenient appointment day when their biometrics will be taken.

You will also be required to specify the station you would like your biometrics taken and the time that suits you.

Those who have already made online applications for e-passport are advised to revisit the e-citizen portal and book their appointments as said in part of the directive.

Exemptions will only apply to the following;

• Sick persons who have urgent appointments to travel abroad for medical attention
• Students on scholarships that require immediate travel abroad
• Public servants on urgent official assignments abroad
• Business executives on urgent official business visits abroad

For all these exemptions evidence will be mandatory.

Any other urgent issue would be considered provided it would be convincing enough and have concrete evidence.

Applications of most legal documents are always done online through the e-citizen portal but the applicants are always required to avail themselves physically to have their biometrics taken at convenient processing stations.

This new directive will seek to address the issue of congestion at the passport processing stations as the system will work by considering the day one made their appointments.

The Government has made a significant improvement by increasing the number of processing stations with more than one station based in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa.

Applicants now can get access to the services in Embu, Kisii, Eldoret, and Nakuru thanks to the improvements.

There is still no need for rush to make your application after the Government extended the deadline to March 2020 but the earlier the better.