The Department of Immigration, Kenya has released a statement on the new
development of an online appointment system for Kenyans seeking to apply for the country’s e-Passport.
The appointment system will be for nationals wishing to submit their e-Passport applications to take biometrics at passport processing stations around the country.
According to the statement signed by the Director of Immigration Services, Kenyans will need to book an appointment on the e-Citizen portal specifying the date, time and station for biometrics at the applicant’s convenience.
Applicants who had earlier submitted their applications before the Department released this statement are not exempted from this.
This new initiative will help manage the onslaught of e-Passport applications and complaints received by applicants from the previous system which was neither noted for speed nor efficiency.
Now Kenyans can choose a time and a place to have their biometrics taken, in addition to tracking the processes involved. This initiative may help citizens exercise patience as they track their applications and help the Department of Immigration manage applications more efficiently, despite the present back-log.
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The Kenyan government also wishes to use the appointment system as a screening process to minimise the occurrence of fraud, identity theft, forgery and passport skimming.
Thanks to the new e-passport database armed with an Automated Fingerprint Verification System for biometrics, this may now be possible.
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