The Directorate of Immigration Services on Thursday has published a list of all passports that are ready for collection across the country.
The immigration service said At least 11,278 passports will be ready for collection at various regional offices next week ( October 9 and 13) in the third week of the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI).
In an official statement released by the immigration service, it said
“In Nairobi, 5,616 passports will be ready for collection at Nyayo House, 1,598 in Eldoret, 1,452(Embu) and 1,204 in Kisii.
In Nakuru, 804 passports are ready while 1,505 have been printed and awaiting collection in Mombasa”.
In Kisumu, the department said 1,400 passports are ready for collection next week.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki on September 19, 2023, initiated a 30-day Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) for the delivery of uncollected passports at the Immigration Department’s Nyayo House Headquarters and all regional offices.
The initiative is part of the policy and operational reforms to resolve the backlog in the processing and issuance of passports and other vital citizenship documents.
He said then that 87,574 passports were ready but remained uncollected.
For ease of collection, Kindiki said names of applicants whose passports will be due for collection the following week will be published every Wednesday to streamline the collection process.
“Persons who fail to pick up their documents within the stipulated period and at the expiry of the due notice will have their passports disposed of in accordance with the law and penalised when making a future application,” Kindiki said.
For the first week of RRI, which was between September 25 – 29, some 22,353 were collected by Kenyans while the second release is currently ongoing this week between October 2 and 6.
The government warned that passports that stay uncollected after their stipulated period of collection will be disposed of and the owners penalised in accordance with the law.
“Persons who fail to pick up their documents within the stipulated period and at the expiry of the due notice will have their passports disposed of in accordance with the law and penalised when making a future application,” Kindiki said.
The Interior CS has stepped up efforts to eradicate corruption at the Immigration Department following public outcry over delayed processing of the travel documents.
The uproar prompted Parliament to summon him for an explanation where Kindiki admitted that corruption was endemic at the Immigration Department but vowed to crash the cartels.
The CS has banned bodaboda riders and idlers around immigration offices and declared the area a corruption-free zone.
Kenyans who have made applications for passports since the operation to restore delivery time for travel documents by Kindiki have acknowledged that the turnaround period has greatly improved and the process is less hectic after a 24-hour shift was introduced.
Emergency applications for persons seeking medical care abroad, students due for admission to learning institutions outside Kenya and people who have secured job opportunities that have a clear reporting deadline are being processed expeditiously.
CS Kindiki said the reforms in the immigration department were bearing fruit and that people should visit to collect passports.
