By Juliet Nalwooga
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has advised Ugandans intending to travel abroad to acquire new passports as the deadline to phase out the Machine-Readable Passports approaches.
Government started issuance of the International e-Passport to citizens on 7th December 2018 with the transition period set to be phased out by April, 4th 2022.
Jacob Siminyu, the Ministry spokesperson says Ugandans should apply in time to avoid any inconvenience since they are operating at a 20% capacity due to the covid-19 pandemic effects.
Siminyu says according to global standards, visas can NOT be offered to applicants whose passports have less than six months before expiry.
Machine-Readable Passports are currently accepted as valid travel documents alongside the new International e-Passport until 4th April 2022.