By Ange Iliza
The country is phasing out the old passports, and replacing
them with the biometric East African e-passports.
The phase-out of Rwandan passports has been pushed from June
27, 2021 to June 27, 2022, according to a communique issued by the Rwanda
Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration.
Around 100,000 passports were going to expire in the next
one month.
The announcement comes as many Rwandans abroad have been
unable to travel back home to acquire new passports due to Covid-19 travel
restrictions.
The Machine Readable Passports will be replaced by the new
East African e-Passports that have been in use since June 2019. Users of the
old passports were given a two-year grace period to replace them with the East
African e-passports.
The move to phase out Rwandan passports was in line with the
country's commitment to promote regional integration with EAC partner states
from June 2019. The decision to adopt a new generation of passports and phase
out old ones was reached by the EAC heads of state in March 2016 in Arusha,
Tanzania.
The e-passport grants its holders access to more countries
without stringent visa requirements. They also feature enhanced security
features that minimise risks of forgery and identity theft.
The East African e-Passport can be applied for via the
government's online portal, Irembo, or through respective Rwandan embassies by
citizens in the diaspora.