A Kenyan passport is essential for a number of functions. One is that it serves as a formal identification document in Kenya and, most notably, is an essential travel document that you will need to travel outside Kenya. With technology advancements and everything else going on now, it is much easier than ever to actually apply for a passport without ever stepping into the famous Nyayo house or any immigration offices in the country. All this is possible with the eCitizen Portal. However, one issue that many applicants face when applying for passports in Kenya is not actually knowing when their passports will be out.
There have been reports and even complaints from some applicants who have said that it had taken them more than 6 months, some 3 months, to get their passports. But are these allegations really true? In this guide, we attempt to find out how long it takes to get a Passport in Kenya.
The time it takes To have your Passport Ready.
Passport applications in Kenya are nowadays done using the eCitizen portal but not physically at immigration offices. To understand the time it takes to have your passport ready, we need to understand the stages that accompany the passport processing stages after meeting the requirements.
- Visit the e-citizen portal login or create a new account if you don’t have one.
- Proceed to Immigration Services. If you don’t see it, use the search bar to find it.
- Once on the Department of Immigration Service dashboard, navigate to get service and click on passport application to start applying fr a new passport.
- Proceed to choose the type of passport you are applying for and pay its fees. Kenya has up to 5 passport types, and the fees vary depending on the type, which is mainly influenced by the number of pages.
- Proceed to fill out the application form by providing all the required details. These include your name, National ID, Phone number, etc.
- Proceed to immigration offices to check in for a Biometric booking appointment.
- Wait for processing and passport collection.
These are the processes that you must follow when you are applying for a passport in Kenya. If you had paid attention during the first stages of the passport application on eCitizen on the portal, you might have noticed some guidelines that you must follow. There was a question: How long does it take to get a passport?
Here, we can see that the immigration department suggests it takes at least ten working days to get your first passport Once your form has been physically submitted to the immigration offices. But this is not guaranteed at times. It might actually take a longer time if more information is required or your application hasn’t been filled out correctly.
Why Do Kenyan passports take so long?
It’s not every day that we all get to have luck on our end, and for many Kenyans applying for Paspsorts, this will tell you this. If your application is taking longer than usual, you should be really concerned, but at the same time, you should know that there are a number of factors that might lead to this.
1. System Glitch
Most of the time, delays in passport processing in Kenya are caused by system glitches, which result from breakdowns of government printers. This breakdown usually results in a significant backlog, which interrupts passport processing.
2. Shortage of Passport Booklets
A shortage of Passport Booklets means there will not be enough booklets to print passports. For example, on 15 Feb 2024, the Goverment of Kenya, through its spokes person Isaac Mwaura, came forward and announced the delay with passport printing was because of a shortage in supply of the 34-page passport booklets, which generally go for Ksh. 4,550.
3. Corruption
Corruption is a selfishness that still manifests within the Kenyan government structure, and because of this, it is the citizens who suffer the most. In some cases, especially when there is a passport delay once with printing, some people who might have the upper hand with officers at the immigration offices actually pay them for their passports to be printed at the cost of others who came early.
4. High passport processing times
The introduction of new-generation e-passports has led to high processing times. They come with many security features that take a long time to process compared to the OLD generation.
How to expedite a passport in Kenya?
To expedite a passport means following the legal process to get your passport faster than actually waiting for the allocated duration. This is especially crucial in case of life and death situations; for example, in a case where you need emergency medical services outside the country, then you will need to apply for an expedited process
One thing you need to know is that getting an expedited passport in Kenya often attracts you to pay a certain fee. If you need to speed up things, the Department of Immigration advises that you reach out using the contacts below for urgent passport processing:
- Email: contact @ImmigrationDept or info@immigration.go.ke.
- Hotline: +254 110 922 065 or +254 110 923 423.
- WhatsApp message: +254 796 347 90 or email: info@immigration.go.ke.
Well, there you have it. Now you understand why sometimes your passport can be delayed even after applying. But most importantly, you know how long you can wait after you apply for your passport and the period it takes for you to receive it.