The Somali Immigration and Citizenship Agency (SIGA) and the National Identity and Registration Authority (NIRA) have announced a new and important change to the immigration and identification system for Somali citizens.
This comes after a major conference held at the headquarters of the SIGA, titled the Somali Passport Collaboration and Promotion Conference. The conference, chaired by the Minister of Internal Security, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartaag, and attended by senior officials from both agencies, focused on strengthening the passport system, ensuring the quality of citizen data, and building a modern integrated system.
The decisions taken at this meeting include that from 1 September 2025, all Somali passport applications will require a National Identity Card. Anyone who does not have such a card cannot apply for a passport. Also, from 1 January 2026, all people traveling within Somalia will be required to carry a National Identity Card, to verify their personal information.
This step is part of the Federal Government of Somalia’s strategy based on building modern institutions, a secure and reliable system, and easy services for citizens to access documents that are important to their lives.
The goal is also to obtain a Somali passport that has a high reputation and recognition worldwide, and to move towards a secure system that is in line with international standards.
