Mustafa Jamal Qazi, the Director-General of Passports in Pakistan, recently made a significant announcement pertaining to e-passports within the country. While visiting the Karachi Passport Office, Qazi declared that from the year 2027 onwards, the issuance of e-passports would become mandatory.

Emphasizing the imminent transition from the current system of machine-readable passports to e-passports, Qazi highlighted that all necessary preparations for this shift are in the final stages of completion.

Additionally, he disclosed plans for the installation of a new passport system within the next six to seven months as part of the overall transition.

Read: Nationwide Availability: E-Passport Service Launched in Pakistan

Providing insight into the scale of passport issuance, Mustafa Jamal Qazi mentioned that 6.5 million passports have been issued to Pakistani nationals intending to travel abroad in the current year.

Addressing concerns about the alleged issuance of thousands of Pakistani passports to Afghan nationals, the Director-General assured that a high-level task force has been established to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Furthermore, Qazi assured the public that there would be no more delays in passport issuance, citing the government’s successful procurement of a sufficient quantity of the lamination paper necessary for printing new passports.