Planning to travel soon? Tired of the middlemen or the hustle of lining up? Well, finally you can apply for your a new passport or renew your old passport from the comfort of your home. On June 2017, National Information Technology Authority (NITA-Uganda) announced its national interlink (integration) project.
The aim of the project was to integrate all government systems and the private sector like energy, telecoms banking for easy access of all this information by the Ugandan citizens through a mobile app and an online portal. For Ugandans to access these services, the government plans to use the National ID Number (NIN) as the central means of identification.
We are starting to see the fruits of this project as you can now apply, pay and receive your passport from the comfort of your sitting room. Using either www.passport.go.ug or www.ecitizen.go.ug, your passport is just a click away.
When applying online, Applicants are advised to fill the passport application form truthfully, completely, correct and provide valid & accurate information and documentation. Processing times for passport totally depends on the information provided and additional checks of the information is done by competent authorities. It should be noted that fees once paid for the application is not refundable.
Applying for a passport on the portal
Before filling in the application make sure you have all the necessary bio-information as this will make work easy for you. Get ready to fill in over 10 sections as shown above.
Start: This requests for your basic details, email and a security question in case you forget your email.
The Application: This is the gist of why you need the passport. You need to specify the type of passport you want, viz; Ordinary or Diplomatic. Specify if want a new passport, renew or you are replacing an old one. Indicate if you want to get your passport quickly or not by selecting Express or Ordinary under priority. If you are renewing your old passport make sure you have it’s bio information at hand.
The Applicant: This page is all about authenticating your nationality. You will basically be required to provide the same information you availed when you were getting your National ID.
Citizenship: Here you have to verify your citizenship and give proof as requested.
Spouse: In case you are married you will need to avail information about your spouse on this page
Parents Details: Just as you did for your National ID, you will be requested to provide names and details of your parents.
Next of Kin: In case of any eventuality fill in details for your next of kin.
Recommender: You will be requested give information of any one who can recommend you for the passport. It could be a person of influence, LC chairman or any representative.
Payment: When it comes to payment you can use VISA details to make the necessary payments. The fee for each passport is below
- Ordinary (48 Pages) – UGX 250,000
- Service (64 Pages) – UGX 400,000
- Diplomatic (64 Pages) – UGX 500,000
- Express Processing Service – UGX 150,000
- Courier service for Applicants Abroad -UGX 10,000
- Certification of Passport UGX -30,000
- Fine for Replacement of lost or damaged Passport -UGX 100,000
When payment is successful, you can review the information you want to submit, make necessary adjustments and submit. You can now check status of your application and you will be notified when its ready for collection depending on where you told them you will pick it during the application process.
We hope other things like driving permits will be made easier to apply for in the near future.
