Kenyans applying for passports at Nyayo House immigration offices have continued to lament over delays, sometimes stretching over six months.
The government offers a variety of reasons that cause the incessant delays primarily being the frequent breakdown of printing machines and lack of booklets.
Despite the anguish experienced by Kenyans who apply for passports within the nation’s borders, most Kenyans in the diaspora have continued to apply, renew and replace passports without hurdles.
This is despite both groups using the same database when making an application and in most cases, the same technical equipment for processing. In an investigation spanning three continents,Kenyans in the diaspora spoke about their experience while applying for passports.
A Kenyan citizen living and working in Arizona, United States, said that replacing a Kenyan passport in the United States took an average of a month.
He explained that one had to make the application through eCitizen just like every other Kenyan, but the duly filled passport must be presented physically to the Kenyan embassy in Washington DC.
This is the same case with Kenyans living in Canada, who are able to apply for their passport and receive them within the stipulated time.
“It is easier now to apply and have the passports processed here in Ottawa, Canada. It is more expensive but convenient,” the Kenyan stated.
The Kenyan High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, has confirmed that passports are processed within four to six weeks after completing the application.
Closer to home, a Kenyan living in Rwanda says that having interacted with immigration offices in Kenya, he now preferred to solely deal with the Kenyan High Commission in Kigali.
“I applied for a passport by the start of the month and I can already see it is at the production stage,” he explained.
A spot check also found that passport services at the Embassy of Kenya in Paris, France had been suspended for the moment. No further explanation was given regarding the suspension.
On Saturday, 23 March, the State Department of Diaspora Affairs launched mobile consular services in Burgersfort, South Africa.
“Young ones seeking birth certificates and passports were sorted; those who have reached 18 years of age applied for national ID Cards while those with the previous ID Cards and Passports applied for new ones,” the State Department announced.
It is not clear why it is easier for Kenya to have the necessary logistics to serve it’s citizens abroad and lack the same capacity to serve Kenyans who choose to stay back home.
