‪Somalia Adopts and To Start Printing EAC e-Passport‬

The EAC e-Passport is designed to harmonise travel documents across member states while strengthening document security and verification at border points. According to the bloc, the passport contains an embedded electronic chip with biometric identifiers, aimed at reducing fraud, tampering and identity manipulation.

Somalia’s move comes amid growing immigration cooperation with Tanzania. On February 16, the two countries signed a migration cooperation memorandum of understanding, which regional reports say provides visa exemptions for diplomatic passport holders, faster processing timelines for ordinary visas, and structured collaboration between immigration authorities.

Somalia is the EAC’s newest partner state. The bloc admitted Somalia at the Summit of Heads of State on November 24, 2023, and the country became a full member on March 4, 2024, after depositing its instrument of ratification with the EAC secretary-general at the headquarters in Arusha.

The regional e-Passport was launched on March 2, 2016, at the 17th Ordinary Summit of the EAC. It is issued in three categories—diplomatic, service and ordinary—reflecting different classes of official travel.

Rollout among member states has been phased. Kenya began issuing the passport in September 2017, followed by Tanzania in January 2018, Burundi in May 2018, Uganda in December 2018, and Rwanda in July 2019. South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are still implementing the system, according to the bloc.

Colour coding

EAC documentation says the passport features standardised “East African Community” branding and partner-state identification, with colour coding by category: red for diplomatic, green for service, and sky blue for ordinary—reflecting the colours of the EAC flag and enabling uniform recognition.

For Somalia, authorisation to adopt and print the EAC format is expected to align with broader reforms to its identity and travel-document systems. Somali media reports in late 2025 cited immigration officials saying the country plans to introduce a new passport in 2026 as part of a wider modernisation drive.

The EAC frames harmonised travel documents as central to its integration agenda, aimed at facilitating lawful cross-border movement for work, trade, study and family travel.

According to the bloc, the East African Community represents a combined market of about 331.1 million people with a gross domestic product of roughly $312.9 billion, underscoring the scale of mobility that common standards are intended to support.