Passport issuance backlog to be completed in four weeks

ISLAMABAD: The backlog of over 700,000 issuance of passports will be completely cleared within the next four weeks.

The long wait for passport issuance had affected around 730,000 Pakistanis, both within the country and abroad.

The delay in passport issuance was primarily due to a shortage of dollars in the country, which affected payments to a French company responsible for producing lamination papers.

The good news is that a solution is now in sight. The French company has received an order for an additional 2 million lamination papers, allowing for the resumption of passport production. The passport office recently received lamination papers for 1 million passports, and as a result, the printing of the pending 700,000 passports has commenced.

Winter: updated passport office timings and days

What’s even more encouraging is that the authorities have set an ambitious target of preparing between 22,000 to 30,000 passports daily. This means that the backlog of over 700,000 passports will be completely cleared within the next four weeks.

By the end of November, more than one million additional lamination papers for passports are expected to arrive in Pakistan, further improving the efficiency of the passport issuance process. Furthermore, December will bring another batch of lamination papers for one million passports, ensuring a continuous supply.