NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 21 — The Immigration Department is set to Commission two new passport printers to increase output following a spike in demand.
Bitok said the department procured the new passport printers under a comprehensive infrastructural upgrade initiative.
He also announced the installation of additional servers to support passport operations and ensure a seamless user experience as part of an infrastructure modernisation plan.
Speaking on Thursday when he received an additional 112,700 passport booklets including 92,500 50-pager series, Bitok promised sustained efforts to enhance efficiency at passport centres.
He urged passport applicants seeking to upgrade their passport applications to 50-page series to do so on the eCitizen portal and monitor the status of the travel documents through an SMS code.
Bitok said all inquiries on the status of applications will channeled to the SMS code 22222 to decongest passport centres.
“Applicants with pending applications and those who are yet to collect their passports can track the status of their applications by sending an SMS with their eCitizen application reference code to 22222,” he announced.
Bitok urged applicants with priority cases to consider upgrading their applications to 50-page passport series and capitalize on available booklets.
“Applicants with pending 34-page passports who have an urgent need to travel are advised to upgrade their applications to the 50-page booklet through the eCitizen portal. No physical visit to Immigration offices is necessary to apply for the upgrade,” he stated.
The PS said additional booklets, including the 34-page (A-series) will arrive in the country in April.