Funds Set Aside to Process Over 800,000 Pending Passports
By
May 3, 2024
The Finance Ministry has set aside money to deal with the huge backlog of more than 800,000 passports across the country.
In October 2022, Uber stopped its services in several Pakistani cities, choosing to work through Careem in five of them and continue using the Uber app only in Lahore.
Reports say that the passport office has issued international tenders to buy new printing and e-passport machines. They’re also advertising to buy lamination paper needed for printing.
Once they buy these machines and paper, they’re expected to quickly handle the backlog.
Passport officials say they’re printing 20,000 to 25,000 passports every day. They’re also getting 40,000 to 45,000 applications for new passports every day.
Recently, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi suspended two senior officials at the Lahore Passport Office because of widespread corruption there. People applying for passports told the minister that getting one without paying a bribe was impossible.
