As an African, is it easy to obtain a passport in your country?

Applying for and getting a travel document such as a passport in most African countries can be a traumatic experience for most citizens.

Despite advances in technology, which normally should improve service delivery in particular for the issuance of documents such as a passport, so many human factors make it extremely difficult for citizens to apply for and get a passport issued to them in good time.

 Obtaining a passport, even though, is a fundamental right of all citizens rightly belonging to any modern state, some argue that it is a privilege to be given a passport, because it can be withdrawn. However, if free movement is a right, and a passport facilitates free movement to a large degree, then obtaining a passport must be tied to the rights to move freely once a person meets all the requirements for its acquisition.

This story was inspired by reactions to a post that I made on Facebook about a conversation I had with a journalist friend from Cote d’Ivoire. This friend had misplaced his passport while in another country attending and covering a conference. He was considering going to his country’s Embassy for a document to facilitate his trip back home, if he doesn’t find the passport. That was when I asked him how long it took to obtain a passport in Cote d’Ivoire after applying for it. He said three days, at most four, in case the issuing agency had a hitch.

Shocked, I asked him if indeed, that was the normal timelime. He said, when citizens apply, they are given 72 hours to return and pick their passports after their biometric details have been taken.

When I posted about this on Facebook, there was a storm of reactions, particularly from Ghanaians. Most of them were in shock just as I was, when I heard the colleague journalist mention three days.

Some of the people who commented asked some questions, and asked that I asked more questions of the colleague. Some wanted to know if he did apply for an emergency, and others wanted to know the fees. The fees for the passport is CFA40,000, which is approximately $66.

 Obtaining a passport, even though is a fundamental right of all citizens rightly belonging to any modern state, some argue that it is a privilege to be given a passport, because it can be withdrawn.

Thinking through the questions, I decided to expand the conversation, and since I was attending an international conference where there are nearly 300 people from around Africa and other parts of the world, I decided to speak to as many Africans as possible about the passport acquisition processes and fees in their countries.

I asked the subjects simple questions: How easy is it for you to apply and obtain a passport in your country? How long after applying before you get the passport, and what is the fee?

The responses were as intriguing as they were inspiring. For instance, in a country like Djibouti, citizens having met all requirements for obtaining a passport, after applying for it, are issued the passport in three days!

With the time and resources at my disposal, I managed to speak to citizens of 10 African countries – Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Algeria, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia.

The feedback I got is mixed – giving an indication that African countries are in different stages of their development, particularly with the passport issuing processes. While some are far advanced and are serving their citizens well, others have processes that inflict untold pain on their citizens.

While this article captures what are largely citizens’ experiences, it is conceivable to assume that the official positions in these countries might be different, and it is possible that these experiences are not the same for every citizen in these countries.

However, as it is in many African countries, the official policy says one thing, but the reality on the ground, which everyone knows including officials in charge, is that the official procedures are often not followed, by employees working at agencies responsible for issuing passports.

It is clear that some countries are the best and others fall within the worst category – and Ghana has recently become part of the worst, after briefly joining the best following reforms that not only sanitized the passport acquisition process, but also brought great relief to citizens, and justifiably so, because that is what it should be.

Surprisingly, one of the countries that has become better in passport issuance is Zimbabwe. Yes. Zimbabwe. Citizens of Zimbabwe once they complete the passport application process, could receive their passports in three days.

According to Ruth Butaumocho, a journalist from Zimbabwe, it could take three days to obtain a passport in her country, and it costs $110. She says it used to be a difficult process, but it has been improved. Some citizens however say the three days is for express service, while the normal timeline is within a week. They however confirmed that the service has seen major improvements and passport acquisitions have become easier.

Christabel Ligami, a Kenyan journalist however says, it’s not easy to get a passport in her country. While the standard timeline one should expect to get their passport after going through the application process should be one month, it takes more than a month, sometimes six months, she said.

According to information on the website of Kenya’s immigration authority, the fees for ordinary passports are based on the number of pages of the booklet. For 32 pages it is Ksh4,550 about $30. For the 60-page it is Ksh6,050 or about $40 and for the 66-page booklet, the fee is Ksh7,550 which comes to about $50.

In Benin, also, getting a passport is one of the difficult things for citizens. According to Benin citizen, Louis-Nino Kansoun, they are required to apply online. Then they are given an appointment, sometimes between two to three months for their biometric data to be taken, after which they have to wait for one or two weeks to go back and pick up their passport. However, in emergency cases, the process can be expedited for the applicant – for instance for students who need it to meet re-opening times, or for medical reasons. He says the cost of a passport is CFA50,000, approximately $84.

In Ethiopia, as well, getting a passport is not a simple task, except for those who need it for emergency reasons, if one applies for a passport, normally, it takes several months. Even the emergency application is processed in one or two weeks, and the normal application which should take about 30 days, could take three months. According to Arneaddis Zeru, an Ethiopian, the process takes that long because there is always a large number of applications.

The fee is 5000 birr approximately $90 for emergency applications and 2000 birr ($36) for normal applications.

Cameroon however falls within the best in passport acquisition.

“When you complete your application, the passport gets ready within 24 hours. You’d receive a notification that the passport is ready within 24 hours,” says Mbukwe Lodrick Samgwa, a PhD student at Yaounde 1 University. The fee he says, is CFA105,000, approximately $175.

However, as it is in many African countries, the official policy says one thing, but the reality on the ground, which everyone knows including officials in charge, is that the official procedures are often not followed, by government employees working at such agencies responsible issuing passports.

According to Sierra Leonean PhD candidate studying at the University of Lagos in Nigeria, Turay Bankoley Theodore, the passport acquisition process in his country is long and demanding, because it is done manually and it centralized. Says it takes approximately three weeks and three trips to the immigration office to complete the circle.

He says applicants from anywhere in Sierra Leone would have to travel to Freetown to the Immigration offices to obtain and fill the application forms. Then they would have to return with the forms and submit at their local post office – they pay a fee at each of the centres. At the immigration office, they are required to pay 20,000 leones for the forms, and 10,000 to the Sierra Leone Postal Service, that then would take the forms to the immigration office for processing, and from where the applicant is called for the biometric data to be taken, and that call could take a week. The longest time an applicant could wait for a call from the immigration office is one month, Theodore says.

However, once the biometric is taken, the passport could be ready the same day or in two days. The passport fee is an additional 2.5 million leones, he says. That amount is approximately $110.

According to Nigerian Agricultural Economist, Adebayo Shittu the cost of obtaining a passport in his country depends on the number of pages per booklet. He says there is the 32-page booklet and the 64-page one and they have different expiry dates.

The passport application process has been decentralized, he says, and it is done at state level. One would to go to an immigration office in a state, after applying for the passport online and filling the form.

However, Shittu says, if one fills the form online and decides to wait, one might not get feedback, and so one has to visit an immigration office to ensure the online process has been successful. He says the applicant’s biometric data is taken on the same day of the visit to the immigration office. However, he adds, that how long it takes one to get that done depends on which state immigration office one goes to and the number of applicants who that is there at a given time.

He says for the standard procedure, one could wait for before receiving their passport is within a month. The applicant would normally get a call from the immigration office to pick up the passport when it is ready.

In Malawi, Moses Michael-Phiri, a journalist, says getting a passport is difficult. He says even though, officially the timeline for getting an express application through is 24 hours, it could take a week. However, normal a application which is supposed to be processed within a month, could take six months to one year before an applicant receives their passport.

Abuobakar Khaled, an Algerian journalist says in his country if one applies for a passport and they live in the city, the maximum time to receive the passport is one week, but it is two weeks for people who live outside the capital Algiers. The reason is that the passport is delivered to the residence of the applicant. While the passport office can deliver directly to the resident in the capital, for those living outside Algiers, the passport is first delivered to the local authority, who then delivers to the applicant.

He says emergency passports can be issued in two days, and it costs around $100, but when it is for health reasons, it is free.

He says the fee for a normal application is approximately $40.

Kafai Omar, a Gender Specialist from Djibouti says, in her country, once one meets the requirements to apply for a passport and puts in the application, the passport is issued within three days at a cost of approximately $85 for a 32-page booklet. She added that emergency applications are done in a day, and at the same fee of $85. She also indicated that if one requests for a booklet containing 45 pages, they pay $110.

The mixed stories and experiences in obtaining a passport as can be seen across Africa is instructive in many ways and sums up the story of the continent.

Tells a story of a continent vacillating between progress and backwardness. The bureaucracy in most African countries don’t seem to serve the wellbeing of their citizens, they instead exploit them and perpetually inflict pain to them, even in what should be a simple matter of obtaining a travel document.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi
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