Old passports to be phased out in January 2021 - Immigration 

Jan 30, 2020

“Old passports are going to be phased on January 15, 2021, and we will all be required to use the new e-passports,” he noted.

IMMIGRATION    
             
KAMPALA - All Ugandans with old passports have been asked to renew their passports before they are phased out.

The Commissioner Citizenship and Passport Control, Brig Johnson Namanya said all old passports will be phased on January 15, 2021.

"Old passports are going to be phased on January 15, 2021, and we will all be required to use the new e-passports," he noted.

He stressed that because of the overwhelming numbers, people need to renew their passports ‘now' to avoid long lines and congestion at the immigration offices next year.

He said this during an interview with the New Vision at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala.

The forum was attended by ministers responsible for labour migration from Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, and Tanzania, supported by the International Organisation for Immigration (IOM).

Namanya explained that long lines at the immigration offices are caused by the labour migrants who need passports to work abroad, mainly in the Middle East.

"Most of these are aged between 18 and 35 years with 60% being females. In just the past three days, we have been issuing 1000 passports daily which is high," he said.

"If the rest of Ugandans who are not involved in labour migration come earlier, the better. We want to serve Ugandans better without a rush," he added.

He stressed that both the application for fresh passports and renewal cost sh250,000.

Namanya said about 200,000 new passports have been issued, which are very few compared to the estimated 1 million Ugandans who hold old passports.

"That means we are left with between 700,000 and 800,000 passports to renew which needs to work day and night. So the earlier, the better," he added.

However, he said human trafficking remains a big challenge but noted that with the regional and continental collaborations, it makes it easy to deal with the problem.

"We are going to be working with other agencies in the region to address the issue of trafficking. The challenge has been regulation of labour agencies but we have measures in place," he added. 

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