Interior Ministry reveals cause of delay in normal category passports

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Interior has revealed that a huge number of daily passport applications is causing a delay in issuing regular passports. The ministry told the Senate that it receives 45,000 to 50,000 applications every day, but can only process 20,000 to 22,000 passports daily.

This has resulted in a massive backlog, causing people to wait over four months for their regular passports. To tackle this, the passport printing facility is now working around the clock in three shifts.

However, expedited and urgent passport services are still being processed on time.

The ministry has also announced that new printers will soon be installed to resolve the delay issue. The delivery of these printers, which was initially delayed due to procurement issues with security ink, lamination paper, and spare parts, is expected this month.

Additionally, the government has ordered more desktop printers and e-passport machines to further speed up the process. These new machines are also expected to arrive this month, which should help clear the backlog and reduce wait times for regular passports.