Passport service available 24/7 in Karachi, Lahore
Passport services in Karachi and Lahore will be available 24/7 as the government has decided to keep at least one passport office open in the two major cities to facilitate the citizens and to reduce the delivery backlog. Several pilgrims intending to perform Umrah in the month of Shawal 1445H are still waiting for their passports as well as those who will be proceeding for Hajj.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday said that the decision has been taken for the convenience and ease of citizens in accessing passport services anytime.He said that the step would make it easier for people to access passport services at any time of the day.
“To give ease to the public and to facilitate, at least one passport office will be open 24/7 in both Lahore and Karachi! This will make it easier for everyone to access passport services anytime,” the minister wrote on the Twitter/X website .
This facilitation will begin on May 7,2024 at Karachi’s Regional Passport Office, Awami Markaz Sharah e Faisal, and Regional Passport Office, Garden Town in Lahore.
It may be noted that the interior minister had recently suspended passport officials in light of increasing complaints of bribery and corruption inside passport offices.
Last month, the passport authorities faced a shortage of lamination sheets — the special papers with security features used in passports — causing delays in the issuance of the travel document.
As per a passport official, the lamination sheets are imported from Germany and thousands of people apply for passports on a daily basis. The government had recently increased Passport fee from March 7, 2024.