13m passports issued in two years
Authorities have issued over 13 million passports in the last two years, including 130,318 to the overseas Pakistanis via online service, as the country witnesses a surge in demand for this vital travel document, according to the annual performance report of the Directorate of Immigration and Passports.
According to the report, the directorate has been working round the clock to clear the backlog and provide prompt service to the citizens. It said that the total number of the Pakistani passports issued to the people has reached 232 million.
The data showed that for the past 17 years, the authorities have been issuing 3.4 million passports annually. However, a surge has been witnessed in the demand for passport during the last two years. As a result the issuance increased to 6.7 million passports annually. In the last 16 years, the directorate collected a total of Rs295.7 billion as the passport fee. In the last two years, the amount has doubled to Rs40 billion annually. Last year, the department issued 53 Pakistan Citizenship Certificates, 4,447 renunciation certificates and one naturalisation certificate.
The report says that the directorate has upgraded its Infrastructure and introduced modern security features. It included 32 new passport counters across the country and round-the-clock passport provision facility in all major cities of the country.
Ten modern passport printers and 6 laminators have been purchased for timely printing of passports, while an e-gate system is being introduced on passports across the country linked to e-passports. The passport app has also been updated. During the last year, the passport department has been built as per modern requirements. The department is committed to providing easy services to Pakistani citizens around the world, DG Passports Mustafa Jamal Qazi said.
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