Gov't to Open Six New Immigration Centers in the Diaspora

Kenyans in the diaspora can breathe a sigh of relief following the latest government announcement on the application of e-passports.

The Department of Immigration says that plans are underway to open more centers in the country as well as abroad to expedite the process of acquiring the digital travel documents.

Director-General of Immigration Alex Muteshi says that four more centers will be opened in the country and six in the diaspora in the next two months.

The four new centers within the country will be opened in Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisii, and Embu.

“We are also going to open six more stations abroad including Washington (United States), London (United Kingdom), Berlin (Germany), Paris (France), Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Johannesburg (South Africa),” Muteshi says.

Muteshi says the new centers will help the department beat the September 2019 deadline for issuance of the new generation passports.

The department says that more than 400,000 Kenyans have so far replaced the old generation passports with the digital ones.

Muteshi points out that the new centers will help the department process more than 1,500 e-passports per day.

The new centers will also reduce the long queues witnessed at the department’s headquarters at Nyayo House in Nairobi.