Kenya: The government says Kenyans will be able to renew old-generation passports after the November 30 deadline

Nairobi — The government says Kenyans can renew or replace old-generation passports even after the Nov. 30 deadline.

In a press statement, Director-General Alexander Muteshi said the exercise would continue at all local passport application centers and diplomatic missions.

According to Muteshi, Kenya will fully switch to the new passports from December 1st.

“The Directorate of Immigration Services would like to remind the general public that the deadline for phasing out the old-generation Kenyan passport is November 30, 2022,” the report said.

“Kenya will fully transition to using the new East African Community biometric e-passport on December 1, 2022,” he said.

Kenya implemented the e-passport system in September 2017 in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Document 9303 and the resolution of the East African Community Summit.

In November 2021, at a meeting in Arusha, the EAC Council of Ministers agreed to abolish old generation passports for all member states by November 2022.

The new e-passport contains the holder’s personal data and is intended to increase efficiency and close security gaps.

Muteshi further said that the replacement of the passports will continue even after the deadline.

“However, the renewal/replacement of the old generation Kenyan passport will continue normally at all of our local passport application centers and our overseas missions after this deadline,” he added.

However, November 30 marks the fourth time that the EAC passport acquisition deadline has been set, having previously been extended by former President Uhuru Kenyatta from 2019 to March 2020.

The new e-passport will allow EAC member states, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to enter and exit member countries freely.