Passport services across all of Lesotho’s ten districts have been abruptly suspended, with authorities citing “grave challenges” at the country’s central production centre and every passport office in the network.
A memorandum dated 2 April 2026 and issued by the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police confirms that the passport production centre and all affiliated offices have been temporarily closed until further notice. The directive was addressed to senior officials including the Director of Passport Services, the Director of Finance, and the heads of passport offices across the country — a scope that signals a system-wide disruption rather than an isolated technical fault at a single location.
The ministry has not disclosed the precise nature of the difficulties, but officials indicate that a technical team is working around the clock to restore operations. Despite those efforts, authorities concluded that the challenges were serious enough to warrant a full halt of all processing activities, including new applications, renewals, and document collections.
The suspension comes without a stated timeline for restoration, leaving an indeterminate period during which Basotho requiring travel documentation will have no recourse through official channels. The impact is expected to be felt most acutely by those with imminent travel plans for medical treatment, business, or cross-border movement — circumstances that rarely accommodate administrative delays.
Officials have not indicated whether emergency provisions will be made available for citizens with urgent and documented travel needs, nor whether the department intends to issue further public guidance. With no end date attached to the closure, passport backlogs are expected to accumulate and may pose a secondary challenge once services resume.
“Operations at the passport production centre and all related offices have been temporarily closed until further notice.”
— Principal Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, 2 April 2026
The Lesotho Tribune has sought clarification from the Ministry of Home Affairs on the cause of the disruption, the estimated duration of the closure, and whether emergency travel documentation measures are being considered. No response had been received at the time of publication.
What this means for Basotho
- → No new passport applications can be submitted or processed
- → Renewals and document collections are frozen indefinitely
- → No emergency provisions for urgent travel have been announced
- → A backlog is expected to accumulate before services are restored
