The Immigration Department in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that the new national passport  can be secured or purchased by citizens at the cost of US$100 or its equivalent in Leones, effective Monday, 12 December 2022.

This according to a public issued by the Immigration Department, dated on 8 December 2022.

The notice reads as follow:

“The Immigration Department in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs wishes to Inform the general public that a new contract was signed between the Government of Sierra Leone (represented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Immigration Department) and HID CID Limited (represented by NETPAGE SL), for the production and sale of E-passport. One of the key provisions of the said contract is the upgrade of the existing passport to include special security features to avert potential forgery and cloning of the country’s passport.

Further to the foregoing, the Immigration Department is pleased to inform that following a rigorous scrutiny of the upgrade of the passport, and subsequent certification by relevant stakeholders, a new national passport has been produced by the contractor, which meets International Civil Aviation Organization and other international standards. The chip embedded In the new passport makes it electronically readable and can be used at any E-gate.

Accordingly, on Tuesday, 6 December 2022, His Excellency Brig. Rtd. Dr. Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone graciously launched the new securitized national passport, and was thereafter issued the first copy.

Effective Monday, 12 December 2022, the new national passport can be secured/purchased by citizens at the cost of US$100 or its equivalent in Leones, based on the prevailing official exchange rate.”