By Ebi Kesiena
Denmark is among the latest countries to reject Uganda’s newly introduced polycarbonate e-passports as a group of Ugandan students destined for internship have raised complaints after Danish authorities rejected their electronic passports.
According to reports, around 20 Ugandan students were denied visas for internship in the Scandinavian country.
In March, Uganda upgraded from paper-based biodata electronic passports to polycarbonate e-passports.
Officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs explained that the upgraded polycarbonate e-passports just like paper-based e-passports has an electromagnetic chip and tough plastic layers infused together, leading to a finished material where personal data is engraved inside the deeper layers of the document.
Ugandan student, Ivan Amanya who got his passport in March and sought to travel to Denmark for internship but was denied visa on claims that the passport could not be used.
“The embassy has received your application for residence permit for internship in Denmark. Unfortunately, the embassy is not able to forward your application to the Danish Immigration Service for processing of your visa because the new Ugandan passports have not been approved by the Denmark authorities,” the email from visa section of the Danish embassy reads in part.
Although, Uganda Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson, Simon Mundeyi, explained that the reason for rejecting Uganda’s new passports is still not clear, all countries in the world have been informed of the changes in the e-passport and more efforts will be put into addressing the passport queries.
“We are in touch with the Danish embassy in Nairobi and we are being told all is being done to ensure that this data verification process is completed with immediate effect and assurance we are getting from them is that within two weeks, our polycarbonate passports will have been certified and approved by the Danish government.”
