FM Portal

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi recently launched a cellphone app to help assist overseas Pakistanis with various issues. The app is called the Foreign Minister’s Portal (FM Portal) and will primarily help expats and foreigners with the issuance and verification of several types of government and legal documents. Previously, overseas Pakistanis almost always had to go to embassies or consulates to get this done, which can be very inconvenient for those living in cities and towns with no Pakistani missions nearby. The app is part of a commendable outreach drive by the Foreign Ministry and Pakistani embassies, which has also seen many missions become very active and accessible on social media over the past few years.

However, the app is not without its flaws. Signup for overseas Pakistanis requires a National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis, which many migrants and overseas workers do not get if they already have other valid Pakistani documents. There is also the problem of politics — a welcome message with a picture of FM Qureshi pops up whenever you open the app. That message could just as well have been from the ministry rather than an elected official. On the same note, considering the PTI opposition to Benazir Bhutto’s name appearing in the Benazir Income Support Programme, it is odd that the app’s name also indirectly credits the minister rather than a national institution.

Still, the indigenously-developed app is a great step forward in terms of providing convenience to the expat community. The government also deserves credit for its efforts to set up NADRA counters at over a dozen missions abroad for the issuance of various legal and official documents and certificates. That effort is reportedly being expanded to allow people in several countries to have access to documents that are usually maintained by provincial governments, such as land and property records. These will go miles in easing some of the most stressful situations that arise for overseas Pakistanis who still maintain strong financial ties to their homeland.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2021.

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