A consignment of 112,700 passport booklets arrived in the country on Wednesday evening, expected to improve passport issuance while also addressing the current printing backlog.
According to Immigration Principal Secretary Dr Julius Bitok, the consignment included 92,400 50-page (B-series) and 20,300 66-page (C-series) booklets.
Dr. Bitok stated that additional booklets, including the 34-page (A-series), have already been ordered and will be delivered to the country beginning next month.
"The issuance of passports will be prioritised on a first-in-first-out basis. Applicants with pending 34-page passports who have an urgent need to travel are advised to upgrade their applications to the 50-page booklet through the eCitizen portal," said the PS.
"No physical visit to Immigration offices is necessary to apply for the upgrade."
Meanwhile, applicants with pending applications and those who are yet to collect their passports have been advised to track the status of their applications by sending an SMS with their eCitizen application reference code to 22222.
To augment passport issuance capacity, Dr Bitok said the Immigration Department has procured two state-of-the-art passport printing machines which are expected to be commissioned by April 2024.
"Further, the Directorate is currently undertaking a comprehensive infrastructural upgrade of its facilities to provide a user-friendly environment and to accommodate the high rise in the number of clients," said the Immigration PS.
Prof. Bitok noted that the government has intensified the printing of passports to clear the current backlog of applications that has been occasioned by a surge in demand.
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