• Kenyans urged to take advantage of the extension
Image: ENOS TECHE
Kenyans now have until March 1, 2020 to get e-passports following an extension of the deadline from August 31 this year.
A statement by Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna on Thursday said Kenyans can travel using the old passports until then.
He urged Kenyans to take advantage of the extension to visit immigration offices to renew the travel document.
President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Interior and Foreign Affairs CSs to work with foreign missions to facilitate the issuing of visas to Kenyans on the current passports.
Interior CS Fred Matiang'i had said the deadline would not be extended.
Last month, the Immigration department said it would not issue passports to Kenyans with no plans to travel.
Then PS Gordon Kihalangwa said some Kenyans were applying for the document for the fun of it.
He said the department has resolved to give priority to those seeking renewal of the machine readable passports ahead of the September 1 deadline.
At least 1 million Kenyans have applied for the new generation passports.
The digital passports were launched in 2017. They have more security features than the old ones.
Another 1.5 million Kenyans are still using their machine-readable passports.