Kenyan citizens will from today be able to apply for the micro-chip embedded passports, e-passports.
The launch which will be presided over by Interior CS Fred Matiangi will see the old passports replaced with new ones which contains data in an electronic chip on the passport.
The immigration department first revealed the look of the new passport in a tweet sometime back.
PICTURE!
The Kenyan ePassport is here;#AskImmigrationKE
Cc. @GKihalangwa @InteriorKE @KenyaAirports @HudumaKenya pic.twitter.com/ahcwxRx3cU— Immigration Kenya (@ImmigrationDept) June 14, 2017
The current passports will still be valid and in use for the next two years before the complete phase out of the same from circulation.
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To get the new e-passport, current holders and new applicants will have to make application for either replacement or new passports. The old passports will be returned upon the issue of the new ones.
All visa stamps on the old passports will still be valid even after the issue of the new ones.
The first e-passports were introduced in Malaysia in 1998. The country had the first company which made the technology and even had an electronic ID with biometric data embedded on it.
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The rollout of the new passports will be done simultaneously in all East African countries.
You want to know more about e-passports, watch the video below;
IMG
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