Pakistan Switches to E-passports

Pakistan has stopped issuing new machine-readable passports and switched exclusively to electronic passports. At the same time, the cost of obtaining documents has nearly doubled,  The Express Tribune reports .

Regular processing of a five-year, 36-page e-passport now costs 9,000 Pakistani rupees, compared to 4,500 rupees for the previous machine-readable document. Urgent processing has increased from 7,500 to 15,000 rupees. Previously issued machine-readable passports will remain valid until their expiration date.

A fee of 22,000 rupees has been set for expedited e-passport processing, while the previous fee for quickly obtaining a machine-readable passport was 12,500 rupees.

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Document processing

According to the publication's sources in the department, 5,572,130 passports were issued in the country in 2025. Of these, more than 3.27 million were machine-readable passports issued through the regular procedure, about 1.84 million through the urgent procedure, and another 276,789 through the expedited procedure. Besides, nearly 180,000 e-passports were issued during the year.

To implement the system, the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports installed 10 additional printing machines and six laminators. Round-the-clock service was introduced at 232 offices, while 93 round-the-clock service counters operate at Pakistani missions abroad. - UA.NEWS/The Express Tribune