Interior CS Fred Matiang’i will on Tuesday open a passport application centre in Nakuru in efforts to ease the pressure at the Nairobi immigration office by those seeking new generation ones.
Long queues have been witnessed at Nyayo House as applicants seeking to replace their old passports rush to beat the August 31 deadline.
Close to 900,000 people have managed to acquire the e-passport with over 1.5 million holders of the old travel documents still outstanding.
The shift to e-passport was announced in August last year.
The immigration department asked Kenyans to apply for the document that also serves as the East African Community passport.
The new document has an electronic chip with the owner’s details that will make it faster for the department to process new passports and make renewals.
To apply for the e-passport, the applicant is required to submit a printed online application form, three copies of the invoices, their original identity card as well as a copy, their old passport and a copy (if replacing), three passport size photos, and a copy of a recommender’s ID card.
It is the recommender’s requirement — who should be either a lawyer, a religious leader, a doctor, a banker, or a civil servant — that irked most Kenyans.
![[PHOTOS] KPC signs a service legal agreement with KEBS](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.radioafrica.digital%2Fimage%2F2025%2F07%2Fa63c369d-7d4d-4a8c-bef9-34dba4c6d536.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
