Passport office runs out of ink

Passporissuance process has been delayed for the past year because of a shortage of lamination paper

ISLAMABAD:

The Passport Office has been facing acute financial crisis as it does not have enough funds to get consignments of lamination paper and ink cleared from customs.

The Passport Office has requested the customs to clear its ink consignments on deferred payment as it is unable to pay duty.

According to sources, the Passport Office has requested from the customs officials that it ran out of ink, asking the consignment to be cleared to avoid national crisis of passport printing.

The officials said the Immigration and Passport Directorate imports lamination paper and ink, and it submits two letters along with every consignment. One letter relates to exemption of EIF as it is paid through Pakistan's consulate in Germany and the other is for the defer payment for the reason that it does not have enough funds to pay customs duty. Customs allow exemption of EIF and defer payment for national cause.

The passport issuance process has been delayed for the past year because of a shortage of lamination paper and the limited capacity of existing machinery, causing significant inconvenience for citizens.

Instead of the usual output of about 12,000 travel documents daily, the authorities have been delivering only up to 3,000, mostly urgent and e-passports. Applicants paying the normal fees have to wait for about four months.

The department imports the paper from France, but the consignment was delayed because of a shortage of dollars.