‘Historical backlog in processing passports has been resolved’ – Kindiki
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki says no more pending passports are being processed since all pending orders have been printed.
In a statement on Monday, April 22, 2024, Kindiki said that the backlog, which stood at 724,000 in March and 50,000 on Thursday last week, has been cleared.
"The historical backlog in the processing of the Kenyan passport has been conclusively resolved and the bottlenecks that had resulted in the frustration of many applicants addressed. The Government has facilitated the acquisition of adequate passport printing equipment, paid all the pending supplier bills, and addressed the supply chain constraints," Kindiki stated.
"The backlog of pending passports that stood at 724,000 by March 11, 2024, has been resolved, and the 50,000 applications that were pending on Thursday, last week have been produced and are ready for delivery."
Kindiki says he has directed the Directorate of Immigration to embark on a rapid results initiative (RRI) to expedite the collection of passports and publish the names of the applicants and the designated collection points by next week.
"Tasked the Directorate of Immigration to develop a passport production and collection sustainability plan within this week, to ensure that there is no backlog reoccurrence," he added.
Passport processing time
According to the cabinet secretary, effective May 1, 2024, all applications for the Kenyan passport will be processed within 21 days from the date of application. The period, according to Kindiki, will reduce to seven days from August 1, 2024, and three days from September 1, 2024.
"The Government reiterates its commitment to ensure that effective 1st May 2024, all applications for the Kenyan passport will be processed within 21 days from the date of application. This period will reduce to 7 days from 1st August 2024 and three days from 1st September 2024," he added.
The CS issued the statement after inspecting the new passport printing equipment and being taken through the production process.
"I interacted with passport applicants to assess their experience with the reforms initiated at the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services," he said.
