Ethiopia to offer door-to-door passport delivery for VIP customers in September.
In the past 12 months, more than one million passports have been issued in Ethiopia, according to the Immigration and Citizenship Service’s annual performance statement.
Director General Selamawit Dawit reported that 1.1 million passports were issued during the 2016 fiscal year, marking the highest number ever distributed by the institute in a single year.
This accomplishment generated 14.7 billion birr in revenue from passport and other related service fees.
Despite ongoing complaints from both the House of Representatives and customers, the Immigration and Citizenship Service has been working on improving its procedures.
Previously, the capacity for daily passport printing was limited to 2,000, but this has now increased to 14,000 due to recent improvements.
Currently, new passport applicants in Ethiopia can expect to receive their passports within two months.
Looking ahead, the Immigration and Citizenship Service plans to introduce the E-Passport system next year, which aims to eliminate the use of fake passports and documents.
Additionally, starting August 1, 2024, the passport fee tariff will be revised.
In response to requests from investors and notable individuals, the service will launch a door-to-door passport delivery service for VIP customers in September.
This service will be available to all citizens who are willing to pay additional fees.
The Immigration and Citizenship Service also announced the lifting of travel bans for 10,000 people who were previously restricted from entering or leaving the country over the past 30 years.
These bans, which date back to 1978, were lifted under the authority recently approved by the House of Representatives.
The new decree stipulates that the Director General of Immigration and Nationality Services will have the authority to impose restrictions on individuals deemed to affect national interests.
This new decree has faced criticism from legal experts, prompting an explanation from Director General Selamawit Dawit.
She noted that the previous procedure of suspending the immigration and citizenship service has been revised, and the new decree now assigns this responsibility directly to the director general.
In April, Ethiopia deported over 18,000 foreign nationals living illegally in the country.
The Immigration and Citizenship Service revealed that these individuals were expelled due to falsified residency permits.
Selamawit Dawit, the Director General of Immigration and Citizenship Services, presented a report to the House of People’s Representatives, highlighting that some individuals were involved in creating and selling counterfeit residency documents for financial gain.
Additionally, the report disclosed that some foreign nationals had engaged in illegal activities for several years under the guise of investment permits.
