The officials from the ministry of Internal Affairs have said that government will announce a new date for the expiry of machine-readable passports.
This followed public uproar that the earlier deadline wouldn’t be meant due to the COVID-19 climate.
A statement by Uganda Revenue Authority last week, indicated that all passports will have to be replaced by the new East African E-passport by the end of January 2021.
“The government through the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration in the Ministry of Internal Affairs has set the end of January 2021 as the deadline for phasing out of all old passports which are to be replaced by the new East African E-passport,” the URA statement read.
However, the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration in the Ministry of Internal Affairs recently said that all the old passports would be phased out at the end of January 2021, giving old passport holders only 5 months to comply.
Jacob Siminyu, the spokesman for the internal affair ministry, that statement has been withdrawn.
“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,” he said
“We are considering setting a deadline at a later date. We are carrying out consultations with stakeholders to ensure we agree on which date can be appropriate for the new deadline. As soon as the process of consultation is completed, a new deadline will be set,”Siminyu added.
The general public is therefore advised that a new deadline will be announced after appropriate stakeholder views have been harmonized.
An Ordinary passport costs Shs 250,000, an Official/service one (shs 400,000) and Diplomatic passport (500,000). For Express service, you’ll pay an extra costs Shs150,000.
The passport will be certified for Shs 30,000 and those abroad are charged Shs 10,000 for courier service.