The Zimbabwean government plans to open e-passport offices in the United Kingdom (UK) to streamline the process of obtaining essential documents, as announced by Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe in a recent interview with the Sunday Mail.
Zimbabwe introduced biometric e-passports in December 2021, featuring advanced security measures like fingerprints to prevent forgery and identity theft. Despite the issuance of e-passports, the old machine-readable passports remain valid until they expire.
Previously, Zimbabweans living abroad had to return home or arrange for someone else to apply for new passports if their old ones expired.
In April, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa, David Hamadziripi, announced the completion of a passport center in Johannesburg.
This center can process 18 passports simultaneously, with an expected turnaround time of less than 10 minutes per client, accommodating up to 360 people daily.
Minister Kazembe Kazembe disclosed that the government plans to establish e-passport offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, with the Johannesburg office ready for commissioning.
Additional offices are also planned for the United Kingdom, United States, and Zambia.
The minister further mentioned that from the end of the year, people will be able to apply for passports online.
Currently, there are 15 e-passport offices set up across various registry offices in Zimbabwe.
