NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenyans applying for new national identification cards will receive them within ten days starting next month, thanks to new measures introduced by the Immigration and Citizen Services department.
Principal Secretary Julius Bitok announced the initiative during World ID Day celebrations in Katoloni, Machakos County.
The faster turnaround will be made possible by the deployment of live capture equipment at Huduma Centres and National Registration Bureau (NRB) offices across the country.
This equipment, coupled with the NRB’s enhanced printing capacity—boosted by the acquisition of two new printers—will significantly reduce the waiting time from the current 21 days to just ten.
“It will now take no more than ten working days from the date of application to get your ID. We are committed to making the process quicker and more convenient for all Kenyans,” said PS Bitok.
World ID Day, commemorated annually on September 16, highlights the importance of national identification documents.
This year’s event in Machakos was marked by on-the-spot registration services for IDs, birth certificates, and certificates of good conduct, among others.
Machakos was chosen as the venue for the celebrations due to the high number of eligible ID applicants in the county, with over 32,000 young people awaiting registration.
The county has commendable registration rates of 78% for births and 43% for deaths.
Local leaders, including Machakos MP Caleb Mule, urged the government to establish more NRB and Civil Registration Services (CRS) offices in the region.
Mule pointed out the long distances residents must travel to access essential documents, particularly passports, which currently require trips to Nairobi or Embu.
“Our citizens are commuting long distances in search of identity documents, and this is both costly and time-consuming,” said the MP, calling for local offices to ease the burden.
In response, PS Bitok pledged that the government would consider the requests for additional immigration offices to improve access to passports and other vital services in the region.
The new 10-day ID issuance timeline is expected to provide much-needed relief for Kenyans seeking quicker access to crucial identification documents.
Principal Secretary Julius Bitok announced the initiative during World ID Day celebrations in Katoloni, Machakos County.
The faster turnaround will be made possible by the deployment of live capture equipment at Huduma Centres and National Registration Bureau (NRB) offices across the country.
This equipment, coupled with the NRB’s enhanced printing capacity—boosted by the acquisition of two new printers—will significantly reduce the waiting time from the current 21 days to just ten.
“It will now take no more than ten working days from the date of application to get your ID. We are committed to making the process quicker and more convenient for all Kenyans,” said PS Bitok.
World ID Day, commemorated annually on September 16, highlights the importance of national identification documents.
This year’s event in Machakos was marked by on-the-spot registration services for IDs, birth certificates, and certificates of good conduct, among others.
Machakos was chosen as the venue for the celebrations due to the high number of eligible ID applicants in the county, with over 32,000 young people awaiting registration.
The county has commendable registration rates of 78% for births and 43% for deaths.
Local leaders, including Machakos MP Caleb Mule, urged the government to establish more NRB and Civil Registration Services (CRS) offices in the region.
Mule pointed out the long distances residents must travel to access essential documents, particularly passports, which currently require trips to Nairobi or Embu.
“Our citizens are commuting long distances in search of identity documents, and this is both costly and time-consuming,” said the MP, calling for local offices to ease the burden.
In response, PS Bitok pledged that the government would consider the requests for additional immigration offices to improve access to passports and other vital services in the region.
The new 10-day ID issuance timeline is expected to provide much-needed relief for Kenyans seeking quicker access to crucial identification documents.
