Reports of delay in printing passports ‘baseless’

ISLAMABAD: The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports refuted reports about the delay in the printing of passports, describing them as “baseless”, ARY News reported.  

In a statement, the spokesperson said that the issuance of passports to people has ‘returned to normal’ as the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports procured lamination paper.

The spokesperson claimed that some elements were spreading “false news” on social media and other forums about the delay in printing passports.

The statement maintained that fast-track category passports were being printed in three days whereas urgent ones took five days.

It continued that normal passports were being printed within a month. A large quantity of lamination paper required for passports had been procured, it added.

Earlier in Oct, the Interior Ministry deployed additional machinery and staff to expedite the printing process of passports.

After caretaker interior minister’s notice, the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports received lamination papers for passport printing. The directorate started printing process to clear the backlog of passports.

The authorities completed preparations to overcome the shortage of the lamination papers. Additional machinery and staffers have been deployed to expedite the passport printing.

Earlier, the backlog of unprinted passports had reached 700,000 due to a shortage of lamination paper in Pakistan.