Passports will be printed locally
Officials of the Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) have announced plans to launch a new, locally printed passport and visa stamp with up-to-date features in the coming month.
Lawmakers learned that the updates to travel documents were being finalized during a recent visit to ICS headquarters by members of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
Immigration officials say the new passport will include enhanced security features to combat fraud. The rework comes amid widespread accusations of discriminatory practices in passport issuance, including abuses and violations of constitutional rights, and calls for immediate reforms.
A report released by Human Rights First Ethiopia (HRFE) supports these claims, highlighting the systemic discrimination faced by passport applicants.
According to the deputy head of the Immigration and Citizenship Service, the new passport will be produced domestically with stringent security measures at the printing office. The new passport will come in various colors, including grey, and incorporate a barcode with enhanced security features and biometric data, convenience, and data integrity, according to ICS officials.
The Service claims that individuals in Uganda and Somaliland have been producing counterfeit versions of the Ethiopian passport. ICS heads also noted that an undisclosed number of Eritrean nationals have been traveling with Ethiopian travel documents due to the weak security of the current documents.
Officials claim the new version, which was designed without involvement from external parties, will be more secure and less susceptible to abuse.
According to ICS head Selamwit Dawit, the current passport and its associated technology will be phased out by the end of June 2025, with the issuance of the new passport slated to begin in the coming weeks.
ICS officials also say they are implementing systems to monitor Service employees in a bid to curb illicit activity and abuse.
During a briefing this week, immigration officials highlighted that every page of the new passport would feature Ethiopia’s cultural, traditional, and historical symbols, including the Axum Obelisk, Ethiopian coffee, Gondar’s Fasiledes Castle, Harar’s Jegol, and others.
The reworked passport will be accompanied by a fully automated visa. ICS officials say the current visa can be easily manipulated, and aim to reduce risk through the new, automated version. Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicate they have informed the diplomatic community about the new version of the visa.
Besides the new passport, visa, and travel document, the migration service plans to build four branches in different parts of the capital. The organization has already secured plots of land, which its management hopes will help resolve the current issues and address customer complaints.
The rework comes six months after the ICS enacted an unprecedented hike in service fees. In August, the cost of renewing a passport climbed to 5,000 birr (or 20,000 birr for expedited service), while fees for corrections to old passports or replacements jumped to more than 40,000 birr.
