Following the intervention of Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki who cranked up the heat at the Department of Immigration Services over the backlog in the issuance of passports, progress has been made with thousands of passports now ready for collection.
Kindiki acted swiftly after Kenyans complained of long delays and claims of massive corruption while attempting to get their passports.
With the CS issuing a deadline to clear the backlog and visiting the Nyayo House which hosts the Directorate of Immigration Services, things began to move.
The Directorate of Immigration Services has published a list of published a list of all passports that are ready for collection across the country.
The passports will be released in batches with the first one running between September 25 - 29 and the second one between October 2 and 6.
Kenyans who applied for passports can now check if their passports are ready for collection in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Embu and Kisii.
The links below provided that are available on the Directorate of Immigration Services can be used by applicants to check if their passports are ready for collection.
After a series of impromptu visits and meetings with high-ranking officials at Immigration, the CS stressed that the backlog of over 40,000 passports should be released in the next 10 days.
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“The 10-day countdown to clear the historical backlog of pending 40,000 plus passport applications is on.
“Deployment of day and night shifts to facilitate full-capacity printing of passports, procurement of modern printing equipment, and recruitment of additional immigration officers will help us resolve the systemic challenges that have hampered service delivery,” he said.
During an impromptu visit to Nyayo House on Thursday, September 7, CS Kindiki said he was impressed at the service delivery.
“Reviewed operations at the Immigration Department are bearing fruit. Citizens seeking passports and other vital citizenship documents are being served with courtesy, and their inquiries responded to by our members of staff.
“We are determined to clear the backlog and process new applications expeditiously,” he stated.
He added that the government was determined to rid Nyayo House of conmen and middlemen who are suspected to be working with Immigration officers to extort bribes from applicants seeking passports and other services.