The government of Uganda has collected Shs80 billion in visa and dependent pass charges in the last financial year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC) issued 266,537 visas at $50 each, translating to Shs49.7 billion, and 12,970 dependent passes for $400 each, totaling Shs19.3 billion.
“We have seen an increase in the number of Ugandan women applying for dependent passes for their foreign spouses. A man comes from a foreign country to be taken care of by his Ugandan spouse. This is not a common practice in our African tradition,” Mundeyi said.
The dependent passes are issued to individuals coming to Uganda to stay under the care of their parents, guardians, or spouses. Notably, there has been an increase in Ugandan women applying for dependent passes for their foreign spouses.
Additionally, DCIC collected Shs5.1 billion from student passes issued to foreign students coming for university or secondary studies, indicating growing trust in the Ugandan education system.
Special passes earned the Ugandan government five billion shillings, while Shs2.7 billion were collected from certificates of residence.
“We want to inform people in Uganda and abroad that we don’t give special passes to everybody. You must have rare skills that no Ugandan possesses,” Mundeyi said.
However, the Ministry’s Spokesperson, Simon Peter Mundeyi, raised concerns about East African nationals, especially Kenyans, who do not apply for work permits despite starting businesses in Uganda.
“Even when you are an EAC citizen, you need a work permit. This work permit is free for EAC citizens except for our DRC brothers and sisters. Our friends from Kenya do not visit immigration to get these work permits but just start their businesses. For those from the DRC, they are not charged for entry visas but are charged for other facilities like work permits,” Mundeyi said.
The DCIC also reported notable achievements in combating human trafficking, rescuing 144 Ugandans trafficked by unscrupulous people, and receiving 752 deported Ugandans who had illegally entered other countries or overstayed their visas and work permits.
Furthermore, DCIC deported 972 foreigners for illegal entry or overstaying after their visas, special passes, work permits, or student passes had expired. A manhunt is currently underway for five illegal foreigners who escaped from Namanve cells.
