By Frank Kamuntu
Kampala: The Government of Uganda, through the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration under Ministry of Internal Affairs, last week issued a statement announcing end of january 2021 as the deadline for the phasing out of all old passports which are to be replaced by the new East African E-passport.
Ministry said that therefore, it was giving all old passport owners only five (5) months to apply for new E-passports early enough to avoid possible last minute inconveniences.
However due to the public outcry on the deadline set by the immigration, Ministry says it has decided to halt on the deadline and promised to announce a new deadline after holding consultations with the stakeholders.
The Ministry’s statement reads;
“You may have seen a notification circulating on social media regarding the January 2021 deadline for the expiry of Ugandan Machine Readable Passports.
This deadline was agreed upon by the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State summit, and binds all five EAC States.
Nevertheless, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, stakeholder consultations were underway about the viability of the deadline. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted this process considerably.
A number of you have raised concerns at this notification and the difficulties involved in meeting this deadline during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The general public is therefore advised that a new deadline will be announced after appropriate stakeholder views have been harmonised.
You are still strongly advised to continue renewing your passports while following COVID-19 safety protocols, to avoid inconveniences of processing last-minute applications.”
In addition, it’s worth noting the requirements for the new E-passports that includes a national ID, a copy of the recommender’s National ID, certificate to confirm the applicants profession, the type of service and finally, a copy of the old passport for those renewing application ID, mobile money EFT, Pay way and all types of visa cards and fill the passport application form.
1. Ordinary passports (48 Pages) at UGX 250000.
2. Service (Official) passport (64 Pages) at UGX 400,000.
3. Diplomatic passport (64 Pages) at UGX 500,000 and Express Processing Service at UGX 150,000.
Other categories are;
4. Courier Service for Applicants Abroad offered at UGX 10,000.
5. Certification of Passport at UGX – 30,0000 and Fine for Replacement of lost or damaged Passport for UGX 100,000.
Ministry adds that Express Passports takes three (3) working days while Normal Passports takes ten (10) working days.
