By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: The backlog of unprinted passports has reached 700,000 due to a shortage of lamination paper in Pakistan.
The issuance of a new passport has been suspended for over a week now as Pakistan has yet to receive the order of lamination paper.
Passport and Immigration officials said the delivery of lamination paper will reach Pakistan on Friday (tomorrow). Due to backlog, the printing of Pakistani passports will continue on Saturday and Sunday to facilitate the citizens, the officials said.
The suspension of passport print has affected the masses willing to travel abroad. Taking notice of the matter, caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti also talked to the officials and ordered them to ensure the timely printing of the passports. Earlier, the official delivery timing for the issuance of passports was modified. As per details, the passport department recently issued a notification outlining the revised passport delivery schedules.
For regular passport applications, the delivery time had been extended to a maximum of 21 working days, compared to the previous 10-day timeframe.
Earlier, The Pakistani passport department has reportedly run out of lamination papers for new passports, which is causing delays for applicants. This is bad news for people who need to get a passport for travel, such as those going abroad for Umrah, medical treatment, or education.
According to informed sources, the relevant authorities did not take timely measures to ensure a sufficient supply of lamination paper.
