Uganda Upgrades Passports to Poly-carbonate Electronic Version with Advanced Security Features.

The Internal Affairs Ministry has announced an upgrade in the Ugandan passports from paper-based bio data based electronic passports to polycarbonate ones.

The Director of Citizenship and Immigration Control Maj Gen Apollo Kasiita Gowa, has disclosed to the press that the new polycarbonate electronic passports contain advanced security features.

“We have completed an upgrade to polycarbonate e-passports. The aim of the upgrade is to ensure enhanced security features, durability as well as conforming to requirements as recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and EAC,” Maj Gen Gowa said.

He also explained that the upgrade will result in improved passport quality, simplified data verification by ICAO member countries at different airports, stronger data protection, and reduced likelihood of damage.

The Director of Citizenship and Immigration Control in the Ministry of Internal Affairs clarified that although the paper-based passports and the new polycarbonate e-passports will be simultaneously in use, the traditional passports will be gradually phased out over time.

The Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Sofia Nalule, presented a report on the responsiveness of ministerial policy statements to gender and equity requirements to the Ministry of Finance yesterday.

Nalule stated that the submission of this report is required by Section 13 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015, which mandates the EOC to assess the compliance of ministerial policy statements with gender and equity standards on an annual basis.

“Both will continue in operation. The paper-based e-passports will continue in use until expiry or when leaflets run out. The upgraded polycarbonate e-passports just like paper-based e-passports have an electromagnetic chip, but the polycarbonate passports have polycarbonate which are tough plastic layers infused together leading to a finished material where personal data is engraved inside the deeper layers of the document with laser.”

The Internal Affairs Ministry has indicated that the new polycarbonate passports have advanced data protection and anti-fraud features that make them highly desirable and easy to use at electronic gates for self-clearance at airports.

This allows for automated issuance of boarding passes for passengers and full compliance with international security standards. However, the ministry officials mentioned that the upgrade to polycarbonate has only been implemented on ordinary e-passports for now, while official and diplomatic e-passports will remain paper-based.

The cost of the new polycarbonate passport remains the same as the paper-based electronic passport, with an ordinary e-passport costing shs250,000. Express processing will cost an additional shs150,000, bringing the total to shs400,000. An official passport costs shs400,000, while a diplomatic travel document costs shs500,000.