The office is the third such outlet to be opened by President Ruto after Kericho and Bungoma.
President William Ruto on Thursday, February 6 opened Kenya’s 10th immigration office in Garissa County, which is set to ease the process of acquiring passports for Northern Kenya residents.
The office is the third such outlet to be opened by President Ruto after Kericho and Bungoma. The other passport application centres are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Embu, Eldoret and Kisii.
Ruto,, who presided over the opening of the new office located in Garissa town and that will also offer other Immigration services, assured that the station was in line with the policy of ensuring all citizens have equal access to government services.
He remarked that the opening of the office was also a fulfilment of his administration’s electoral pledge to restore passport printing services after they were stopped in 2014.
President Ruto presides over the opening of the Garissa Immigration Office on February 6, 2025. /PCS
“The people from this area will no longer have to travel to Nairobi to get these services. We want to ensure this region enjoys such services at close proximity,” he promised.
Garissa and other regional offices had ceased issuing passports to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations for centralized printing of passports and other travel documents to reinforce their security from forgery and other manipulations.
However, investments in a modern and integrated e-passport Management System have enabled the Directorate of Immigration to decentralize the passport application process while adhering to ICAO and other global passport security guidelines.
Besides Garissa county, the new Immigration office will offer convenience to Mandera, Wajir and parts of Tana River, Lamu, Kitui and Isiolo counties saving applicants expenses in transport and time currently spent accessing services in Nairobi and other regional offices.
Immigration & Citizen Services PS Julius Bitok stated that the reopening of the Garissa office and the elimination of vetting for national ID card applicants for residents of border counties will promote fairness and equality in access to identity and registration documents.
He remarked that with the stoppage of vetting, the Garissa Immigration office was expected to witness a high demand for passport applications. “Yesterday (Wednesday) in Wajir, the President signed a proclamation vacating vetting for ID cards in North Eastern region and other border counties.
“With the new Immigration office in Garissa, we believe eligible applicants will flock in big numbers to apply for passports and other services,” he praised.
The new office will have a dedicated migrant labour desk for fast-tracked passport applications for those pursuing foreign job opportunities.
It will also be central in providing passports to around 2,000 Hajj Pilgrims and travellers for medical, studies, business, social and leisure visits. According to the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) chair Hassan Ole Naado, over 50 percent of Hajj pilgrims come from the Northeastern Region.
This year, Kenya has been allocated 4,500 slots for Haji that must obtain relevant visas by April in time for the religious gathering in May 2025.
Collage of covers of Kenyan passports. /MWAKILISHI.COM