Passport printing backlog finally comes to an end

ISLAMABAD: The passport printing backlog has finally come to an end in major cities of the country much to the relief of the public.

Director General Passport Mustafa Jamal Qazi has announced that the backlog of passport issuance in major cities like Karachi and Lahore has been cleared.

He acknowledged that the delays in passport deliveries due to the printing backlog were a significant challenge. “We accepted this challenge and worked to resolve it,” he stated.

Explaining the situation, the DG said that the department was facing limited printing capacity. “We were processing 65,000 passports daily, but printing was capped at 23,000 per day,” he revealed.

Qazi also shared that new printers are expected to arrive in Pakistan within a month, which will normalize the process of passport issuance.

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The backlog of passports for overseas applicants, who applied online, has also been addressed. More than 24,000 passports have been delivered to overseas Pakistanis.

“We are now focusing on smaller cities,” he added. The DG also mentioned that a new dashboard and updated printers are being introduced at passport offices, and the entire procurement process for new printers has been completed.

The department is currently awaiting their delivery.

Passport and Immigration Department has failed to deliver passports to over 500,000 individuals on time, despite collecting millions of rupees in fees.

Previously, regular fee passports were delayed by several months, but now even urgent fee passports are taking one to two months to be issued.