Evolution of Laissez Passer in Rwanda

Citizens of Rwanda-Urundi territory in the colonial era were issued travel documents called ‘Passport de sortie’ meaning Exit Passport but later changed its name to Laissez passer. Who ever had the old document was allowed to travel to places like Uganda, Tanganyika and Congo.

In 1963, the first Laissez Passer was issued to replace the Passeport de sortie. Recipients  of this new document were then permited to cross borders between Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Burundi, Tanzania and before the addition of Kenya in 1984.

The evolution process of the document started in 1991. Its page appearance page changed to two and its expiration period was increased to one year renewable.

In 2009, the Directorate of Emigration and Immigration initiated a new project aimed at issuing a modernized booklet like Laissez Passer with an expiration period of two years.

The Director General of Immigration and Emigration, Anaclet Kalibata believes that the new travel document will facilitate provision of effective services to nationals, especially those in the business sector and students. He made the remarks while officially launching the new Machine Readable Laissez Passer (MRLP) that replaces the previous document that was in paper form.

Kalibata said that travellers spent a lot of time at borders, adding that the new document was initiated to simplify such hitches.