Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The passport backlog in major cities like Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore has been cleared.
According to the Director-General of Passports, the backlog of passports applied for online from abroad has also been addressed.
Additionally, over 24,000 passports have been delivered to overseas Pakistanis, and priority has been given to those who travel abroad frequently.
The Director-General of Passports has stated that 65,000 passports are processed daily, but printing was previously limited to 23,000.
However, with the expected arrival of new printers within a month, the passport issuance process is expected to return to normal.
Earlier, the issue of delay in Pakistani passport issuance echoed in the National Assembly.
Responding to Pakistan People’s Party’s Aga Rafiullah’s call attention notice, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar said the government is working to speed up the issuance process of passports.
He said the daily demand for Pakistani passports has reached 44,000 while only 25,000 to 26,000 passports are being published, daily in Pakistan.
A new problem has arisen for passport seekers, who are already facing inordinate delay in getting the essential travel document, as the passport office is running out of black ink required for the printing.
