ADDIS ABABA – Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) disclosed that it has extended the issued passport validity period from five years to ten years.
Briefing quarterly performance to media, the ICS Director-General Selamawit Dawit said that the ICS has been working passport validity extension activities from five years to ten years. It would be functional for new printing passports in the near future.
Over the past three months, the ICS issued and distributed over 367, 000 passports (97.2% of its plan) by importing 478, 000 booklets. Some 30, 212 passports are distributed to Ethiopians residing abroad. The company boosted its capacity to deliver over 7,000 passports daily, she said.
In the stated period, it managed to register 572, 236 vital registrations. It commenced e-passport production. Necessary preparations are finalized to make e-passport operational starting from January 2025. Visa sticker, Ethiopian citizenship and residence new form of identification cards preparation have been completed, she added.
As to her, the country has been boosting its capacity in on arrival visa. It has serving on arrival visa for some 188 countries. Over the past three months, the country has managed to transit over 1.14 million people via air and a total of some 237, 872 transistors via land.
In its effort to ensure accessibility of visa service to customers, it offered a total of 259, 705 visa (109% of its plan) in different platforms. It awarded 5,259 permanent and temporary residence visa to foreigners.
Furthermore, as part of its branch expansion activities, preparations are finalized to opened new six branches across the country. It is expected to open ten new branches to facilitate service delivery, she noted.
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER 2024
