Rwanda on Friday started issuing out electronic passports to citizens as it works towards phasing out it’s old generation of travel documents.
The move is part of reforms within the East African regional bloc in line with a 2016 directive.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are all rolling out the new electronic passports system bearing more secured identification features.
Securing passports whether normal or electronic in parts of Africa often comes with delays.
But Rwanda has announced that applicants are expected to receive their e-passports within four days after submitting their requests.
Application for the e-passports would be also be done online via the government’s service delivery portal.
Types of passports
Rwandans will now have five types of passports to choose from including.
There will be the option for an ordinary passport for minors valid for two years, ordinary 5-year passport with 50 pages and ordinary 10-year passport with 66 pages.
There will also be a service passport with 5-year validity and diplomatic passport.
Rwandans have two years to obtain the new passport but Kenyan holders of the country’s old generation passport have until August to acquire the new ones.
Electronic passports have a microprocessor which stores a digital version of the ID photo as well as all of the ID data found on the first page of the paper passport.
Rwanda is ranked No. 3 when it comes to African countries that offer visa-free access to all Africans without conditions.
The country made gains in past year after improving access for nine countries on the continent.
Africans enjoy liberal access to Rwanda, with no visa required for 15 countries and visa on arrival for 38 countries.
Seychelles and Benin are the only countries on the continent to offer visa-free access to all African countries.
Source: Africafeeds.com
