The Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (DGIE) started the issuance of East Africa e-Passport since 28 June 2019, with the National ID card as a requirement for citizens aged 16 years and above. Rwandan Community abroad with no National ID cards could not apply for an e-Passport.

In collaboration with the National Identification Agency (NIDA) and Irembo Ltd, DGIE has developed a system that allows to apply and acquire Rwandan National ID and e-Passport from the Embassies. This was implemented to facilitate the Rwandan Community abroad without National ID cards.

DGIE is pleased to announce to the general public that Rwandan Community abroad can now apply for a National ID card and thereafter apply for an e-Passport via Irembo portal. The biometrics data will be captured from the nearest Embassy and be used for the processing of both National ID card and e-Passport.

DGIE encourages all Rwandan citizens to apply for an e-Passport at their earliest possible opportunity before the planned phased out of Machine Readable Passports scheduled on 27th June 2022.

For more inquiries and clarifications, kindly contact