Express passports are finally here

Jul 03, 2015

The Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control has released the first batch of express passports.

 By Andrew Masinde                          

The Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control has released the first batch of express passports.

 

Nicholas Ongodia the commissioner citizenship and passport control said this is to increase on revenue and efficiency and the promotion of service delivery.

 

Ongodia said to this effect the fees have increased from sh120,000 to sh150,000, but the express passport will cost sh300,000.

 

He also said under the Finance Act, 2015, the express passport is supposed to take two working days but they had managed to issue all the 29 applications submitted on Wednesday in a span of 24 hours.

 

"Today we are here to witness the issuance of the first express passports and we are determined and call upon Ugandans who wish to have their passports ready in a short time to apply for them. 

 

"The other Ugandans who cannot afford the fee for express passports will enjoy the normal passport application process which takes 10 working days or two weeks".

 

Under section 3 of the Finance Act no.10 of 2014, current fees are; diplomatic: sh300,000, official - sh250,000, ordinary – sh150,000, East African sh80,000, controversial travel document (CTD) – sh120,000 and passport within two days Sh300,000.

 

Ongodia explained that all fees are paid in revenue collection banks in Uganda; "other changes include the increment of single entry visas from $50 (sh165,000) to $100 (sh330,000) as well as the introduction of the non-refundable fee of $1,500 (sh4,950, 000) for people applying for some categories of work permit," he added.

 

Francis Tumwekwasize working in Kampala was a mong the first people to get an express passport, he said unlike the past when he was getting his first passport, this time the process was so smooth. 

 

He said it took him only 24hours, something he never expected. He applied on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday afternoon he was able to get a new passport.

 

"I got my first passport in 2002, it took me two months. I had to go through the process of registration, filling forms, approval, getting stamps from LC1 to the RDC then after registration, submitting the papers was tedious especially when it came to lining up, but this time, I have no word apart from requesting ‘immigrations’ to continue with this fast process," he explained.

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