EAST AFRICAN PASSPORT- ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

You must have heard about the East African passport, there are lots of things about this passport which you need to know, like the new ways in which the registration is being carried out and even the new way how to track your passport when you apply for it. The East African passport is being issued to citizens according to the constitution, as of 2017, Kenya started giving out the new East African passport, so many critics have said lots of things about the passport and some have also made positive reviews about the passport. The new East African passport has a tracking device which is attached to it to monitor the movements of individuals as they travel around, the passports contain individuals bio-data, fingerprints, digitally stored photo and signature. This new passport is meant to rid out security challenges, provide efficiency and rid out loopholes.

EAST AFRICAN PASSPORT – ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

There are some features of the new East African Passport which you need to know, it’s important to be familiar with this if you are a citizen and you are planning to leave the country. Furthermore, it is necessary for you to have a passport before the due date. I know you must be thinking that the passport costs a lot of money, it doesn’t cost much, 34 pages of the passport cost Ksh 4550 and so on.

There are several features attached to the passport as follows:

It contains an electronic chip which also has the details of your old model passport
Biometric identifier
Digital photograph of the passport holder
You should know that details of the e-passport will be registered in the International Civil Aviation Organization
It has a new logo at the bottom which is labelled at East African Community and it is blue in colour. The blue colour was chosen by the East African Community and it represents Lake Victoria
The new passport enhances faster clearance point of entry and its not possible for reproducing that passport again or even tampering with it,
It also provides travellers to benefit from automated border clearance
Those registering for the new passport will have a new passport number, not the former passport number
If you have a valid visa on your current passport it will still be valid, so you don’t want to worry about that.
The e-passport logo which appears on the cover is the international symbol for an electronic passport which means that the passport has an integrated circuit or chip on which the data about the passport holder is stored.

These features which are listed above are what is available in the New East African passport. This passport has served as beneficial help to individuals and also the government. You should know that Light blue is the official colours of the East African community, you should know that the old passport will be phased out and will not be recognized as a travel document by August 31^st 2019, those still using the old passports are being advised to make changes before this due date. This new passport which is being issued are valid for 10 years unlike the other ones which do not last long, Children under 18 years are said to have their passport under the issuance of the government, while minors application are done on the parents e-citizen accounts and the parents are advised to select minor applications.

Kenya citizens abroad are advised to register their names and addresses to the nearest Kenya Mission or to the nearest East Africa Community Mission, so that they can also have the new passport as the due date is approaching shortly, citizens should note that changes of address or even departure from one country to another should be stated so that there will be no form of embarrassment to the citizens. This new East African passport can be withdrawn anytime by the government if you are found guilty of misusing it, citizens are advised to take the passport as a valuable document and it should not be altered in any way or even allowed it to pass in the possession of unauthorized personnel. Passport holders should know that if their passport is lost or destroyed, the facts and details should be reported immediately to their passport office for more enquiries and details either on how to get a new one or how to find the lost passport, you should know that there are some procedures which will be involved in this.

There are several requirements needed for the East African Passport; Requirements might be needed when you want to do registration for your passport or even make a replacement if you are still currently using the old one.

REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR THE REGISTRATION OF EAST AFRICAN PASSPORT

You will have to register on http://www.ecitizen.go.ke or the department of immigration services using their website link immigration.ecitizen.go.ke and click on the passport registration form which will open and you will be asked to fill in your details.
You are advised to read the instructions carefully and fill in the application form, after doing this, select mode of payment and pay the required passport fees. Passport fees depend on which you are going for either the 32 pages passport or the 64 pages passport. The passport fees are as follow;

East African Passport

Diplomatic Passport (48 Pages)

32 Pages Ordinary ‘A’ Series

48 Pages Ordinary ‘B’ Series

64 Pages Ordinary ‘C’ Series

Lost Passport

Mutilated Passport

Kshs. 990

Kshs. 7,550

Kshs. 4,550

Kshs. 6,050

Kshs. 7,550

Kshs. 12,050

Kshs. 10,050

Above are the current price lists, citizens should know that this price list will not change for any reason, for those doing a new passport you can see the various price lists even for that diplomat are listed above. After making payment for your passport during your online submission, you are to print out some forms and go to their office with the following documents which are;

FORMS NEEDED FOR SUBMISSION AT THE IMMIGRATION OFFICE

National IDs card and copy
Old passport for replacement
Recommenders ID card and copy
OriThe original card and copy
Original birth certificate and photocopy
An e-citizen pre-filled passport form and photocopy
Consent letters for minors

Above are the documents which are required for you to bring while coming to the immigration office. In conclusion, we believe we have given you full information about this topic and we hope you carry out your passport registration soon.

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