ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, the federal government has amended passport rules, allowing Pakistani citizens to apply for a passport from any city nationwide, regardless of the address on their Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC). This policy aims to streamline the application process and reduce bureaucratic hurdles for citizens, officials said.
Following the policy amendment, a notification has been sent to regional passport offices, empowering citizens to apply for passports outside their registered residential areas. Mustafa Jamal Qazi, Director General (DG) of Immigration and Passports, noted that the new rule is a response to longstanding challenges faced by applicants, ensuring they won’t be turned away based on CNIC address discrepancies.
In August, addressing widespread concerns about passport issuance delays, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar pledged that the issue would be resolved by the end of September. He confirmed that new machinery and software were being installed to enhance daily production capacity from 26,000 to 60,000 passports, a move expected to eliminate the current backlog.
With these new measures, the government aims to make passport services more efficient and accessible across the country.
