KARACHI – Passport applicants have to wait for months in Pakistan amid mass influx of passengers and printing issues.
The ongoing passport printing delays in country of 242 million are set to improve with the arrival of 10 advanced desktop printing machines from abroad.
Reports in local media said state-of-the-art machines will be operational by next week and are expected to double the current printing capacity. As of now, around 22,000 passports are printed each day, but this number will increase.
With around 50,000 applications received daily for new or renewed passports, the need for faster processing system becomes need of the hour. The matter even echoed in the National Assembly, prompting discussions on the government’s response.
Sharif led government is committed to speeding up the passport issuance process as daily demand for passports has reached 44,000, the current production is around 25,000.
