Kenyans Given Until November 30th to Migrate to the New EAC Biometric Passport

Kenyans have until November 30th to replace their old-generation passports with the new East African Community (EAC) biometric e-passport, the Directorate of Immigration Services has announced.

Immigration Director-General Alexander Muteshi on Thursday urged Kenyans to adhere to the deadline to avoid any inconveniences.

“The Directorate of Immigration Services wishes to inform the general public that Kenya is bound to migrate fully to the new East African Community biometric e-passport by 30th November 2022,” Muteshi said in a statement.

At a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania in November 2021, the EAC Council of Ministers agreed to phase out the old-generation passports for all member states by November 2022. 

The government had previously set December 31st, 2021 as the deadline for migration to the second-generation e-passport.

Kenya has been in the process of phasing out the old dark blue passports as part of the binding commitment made to migrate to the new East African Community biometric e-passport.

Once the deadline elapses, the old dark blue passport will be null and void and no Kenyans will be able to travel internationally without a valid EAC biometric e-passport, which is sky blue in color.

The e-passport has an electronic chip holding the same information as the old model passport, a biometric identifier, a digital photograph of the passport holder, and security features to prevent unauthorized use and forgery. Details of the e-passport will be registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The digital passport will allow citizens of the EAC regional bloc member states including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to leave and enter the member countries freely using e-gates, without going through immigration officers.