Tanzania: Clock Ticks for 950,000 Holders of Old Generation Passports in Tanzania

Dar es Salaam — Time is fast running out for holders of machine readable passports, with only five months to go before the travel document is phased out.

But even as clock ticks, only 13.8 per cent of Tanzanians have acquired the new electronic passports, according to data from the Immigration Department.

Since the launch of electronic passport in January 2018, latest data shows that only 131,418 Tanzanians have acquired the new electronic passports, compared to the estimated 950,000 who hold the machine readable passports.

Already, some countries no longer accept the old generation passports.

The Immigration Department says there is a low uptake of the new passports.

The electronic passport costs Sh150,000, three times the old one, which was pegged at Sh50,000.

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