The Ugandan Directorate of Immigration and Citizenship Control has opened an e-passport and e-visa enrollment centre at the Uganda Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
The centre, according to Immigration, will enrol and issue Ugandans living and working in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah, Ras Al Khainah, Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain, with the recently introduced East African Community Electronic Passports.
“The centre will also process and issue electronic visas to non-Ugandans wishing to travel to Uganda for various reasons,” officials said in a statement on Wednesday.
Immigration embarked on the diaspora roll out program beginning of this year starting with London three months ago, Washington DC and now Abu Dhabi.
Statistics have shown that over 60,000 Ugandans live in the UAE and its neighbouring countries and the new centre will be seeking to serve them without necessarily coming back to Uganda.
The roll out exercise, according to officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will continue with Pretoria in South Africa in June, Copenhagen, Denmark, Beijing, China, and Ottawa in Canada.
Officials in the Foreign Affairs Ministry have now called upon all Ugandans living in the UAE and its neighbours to take advantage of the newly launched centre to apply to renew their passports in order to avoid any inconveniences related to the recent phase out of the old machine – readable passports.
How to apply
Immigration said that for one to apply for a passport, they should visit www.passports.go.ug, pay the requisite fees, schedule appointment, appear in person at the Embassy on the appointed day and have their biometric details captured.
The applicant will then be notified on SMS when their passport is ready for collection.
