Passport backlog: New printing machines to get operational soon

ISLAMABAD: The passport printing delay issue is expected to be resolved as 10 state-of-the-art desktop passport printing machines have arrived from abroad, ARY News reported.

All machines will be operational by next week, the sources said and added that these new desktop machines will double the current printing capacity.

According to the sources, around 22,000 passports are printed on daily basis and the capacity will be doubled by the next week.

Around 50,000 applications are received daily for new or renewal of passports from across the country, the sources added.

Earlier, the issue of delay in Pakistani passport issuance echoed in the National Assembly.

Responding to Pakistan People’s Party’s Aga Rafiullah’s call attention notice, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar said the government is working to speed up the issuance process of passports.

He said the daily demand for Pakistani passports has reached 44,000 while only 25,000 to 26,000 passports are being published.