At least 12,000 Kenyans have collected their passports from immigration departments over the past ten days, according to Immigration Principal Secretary Julius Bitok. As of August 13, there were 97,675 uncollected passports remaining across eight application centers, indicating a notable decrease from 110,059 on August 1.

“To ease passport delivery, we have suspended the requirement for applicants to book an appointment for collection,” Bitok announced. He encouraged those with uncollected passports to visit the stations where they submitted their applications.

However, some applicants remain frustrated. One Kenyan expressed their dissatisfaction on social media, stating, “I applied in October last year, but the system still shows the ‘loading’ stage.” Others reported their applications stuck at the ‘printing’ or ‘dispatch’ stages for months.

Bitok acknowledged the challenges but assured the public that the immigration department is reforming application processes to improve efficiency. “As a result of these interventions, we have cleared the historical backlog of unprinted passports,” he said.

To facilitate travel for Kenyans seeking job opportunities abroad, Bitok revealed that a Migrant Labour counter has been established to expedite passport applications. He advised applicants to provide necessary documents to utilize this service.

He also warned that any uncollected passports would be disposed of six months from the date of this notice, stressing the importance of prompt collection. Currently, Nairobi holds the highest number of uncollected passports at 50,161, followed by Kisumu with 10,234.