The United States of America has revised their visa issuance policy stating that only those with the new passports will be allowed entry into the country.
In a tweet, the embassy indicated that travelers with a valid US visa may travel with their current visa in the old passport but must also have a new e-passport for entry.
“US visas & non-digital Kenyan passports: U.S. visa applicants may make an appointment using old Kenyan passport but must have new e-passport before the visa can be issued. Passports must be valid for 6 months upon entry & non-digital passports expire Aug 31, 2019,” tweeted the US Embassy in Nairobi.
The department of immigration however clarified that one could make an application with the old passports but the visas would only be issued once the applicant produces the e-passport.
“Visa applicants may apply for a US visa with a non-digital Kenyan passport. We will place a US visa in a non-digital passport until further notice. Holders of current US visas do not need to take any action,” added the Embassy.
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Last week, the government of Kenya announced that no civil servant would be able to travel abroad unless they acquire digital passport, popularly known as the e-passport.
Announcing the development, the head of public service Joseph Kinyua said that a passport should be valid for at least six months at the time of travel. This is unlike the current machine-readable passports, which expire in four months time.
“Considering that the machine-readable passport will cease to be a valid travel document with effect from September 1, 2019, any machine readable passports is already outside the six months validity period,” read a circular by Kinyua in part.
In October last year, the government directed that all Public servants would be required to have an E-passport by February 28 of 2019.
“To avoid inconveniences that may be occasioned on account of the limited validity period of the machine-readable passports and in observance of the above-mentioned circular, travel clearance should not be issued to officers who do not hold the e-passport,” added the circular dated April 15.
The move may see cabinet secretaries, governors, principal secretaries, accountants and all members of independent commissions reschedule their planned travel.
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