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ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has announced an extension of the passport validity from five years to 10 years without any additional fee.
The new passport will be issued at the previous fee of Rs 3,000 and this decision will be implemented from January 1. “It is a gift from Prime Minister Imran Khan for all the Pakistani labour community especially in the Middle East,” he the minister told media persons after visiting the office of Directorate General of Immigration and Passport.
He clarified that the decision would not be applicable to ‘official and red’ passports as the facility was aimed at facilitating the country’s labour community working abroad especially in Middle East countries.
The minister said a new e-passport would be launched from April 28 next year and it would help maintain data on modern lines and improve the country’s image abroad.
Sheikh Rasheed said an express service was being launched across the country under which home delivery of passports would be provided to citizens. He said the facility has been activated in Islamabad and will soon be available in Rawalpindi.
He said an SMS service had also been started with the basic aim to inform the passport holders six-month before the expiry of their passports. He said the ‘e-service’ was being initiated in 191 countries from January 1.
He further said as many as 64 officers of the Passport and Immigration Department were overstaying in different countries, adding they all would be called back and new officers would be posted there at the earliest. He said the passport and immigration department was short of funds and assured that their financial matters would be resolved at the earliest.
Answering a question, the minister said the visa process for the Chinese engineers working on different projects of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be made easier.
To another question, he said necessary directives had been issued to review the existing Exit Control List (ECL), adding as many as 66,000 people were on the blacklist of the Federal Investigation Agency and 44, 000 on the passport department’s list.
Sheikh Rasheed said he is in-charge of the committee looking into the ECL related matters and only those whohad criminal records or found involved in anti-state activities will be placed on the list which will be reduced to 25,000.
