Home Secretary says the move will speed up services across all passport offices and ensure transparency
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Wednesday that the country had switched to cashless transactions at all passport offices.
On June 19, the government decided to digitize the passport issuing system as part of sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing immigration services and eliminating fraud. The Home Ministry had announced that the cashless payment system introduced in the passport offices and online portal would be shifted to the Pak-ID platform.
In a post on X Today, Naqvi said, “From today, cashless transactions are operational at all passport offices across Pakistan. Applicants no longer have to stand in long queues or wait for hours to make payments. This important reform was initiated on the directions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and our team has successfully delivered it.”
Naqvi highlighted that the move would speed up services across all passport offices and ensure transparency and convenience for citizens.
He also congratulated the entire team on the digital financial shift and said “many more milestones” lay ahead.
Read: Pakistan only issues electronic passports
A week earlier, Director General of Immigration and Passports Muhammad Ali Randhawa had said that the country would gradually move to issuing only electronic passports (e-passports), while cash payments for passport fees would be abolished from July 1 (today) in favor of a QR code-based digital payment system.
The decision was taken on June 23 during a high-level meeting chaired by the Director General at the headquarters in Islamabad.
The meeting members were further informed that the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports would soon launch a dedicated passport mobile app that will enable Pakistani citizens both at home and abroad to apply for passports online from their homes.
Applicants will also be able to receive their passports at their doorsteps, with TCS and DHL engaged to provide delivery services.
Officials said the initiative would significantly reduce congestion at passport offices.
