The Schengen Area has ruled that Kenyans without the e-passport will not be issued with Visas to travel to any of the 26 European countries under Schengen area.
The rule came after they abolished their internal borders, for the free and unrestricted movement of people, in harmony with common rules for controlling external borders and fighting criminality by strengthening the common judicial system and police cooperation.
No Schengen visa for Kenyans without e-passports starting this Saturday, 26 European States tell Kenyans. pic.twitter.com/4XqKkCDGfg
— Robin Njogu (@robinnjogu) May 30, 2019
This is not the first of the countries that have declared their move to Kenyans who wish to travel to their countries. In early May the government of the United State also gave a similar directive where they ruled that they would not issue visas to Kenyans who did not have the e-passport.
According to the Embassy’s spokesperson, the old passport would only be used to place an appointment at the Visa office but one will need to obtain an e-passport before they can issue a visa.
The directive now calls for more Kenyans to apply for the E-passport.
The government of Kenya launched the new passport to replace the current generation of manual travel documents, which will be phased out in two years. The new documents will bear the words ‘East African Community’ as well as ‘Kenya’ in line with the drive for regional integration. The e-passports feature a microchip loaded with data about the holder.
Kenya becomes the second country in East Africa after Burundi to issue e-passports to its citizens.