275,000 passports pending

ISLAMABAD: About 275,000 passports were pending for issuance at the passport office of interior ministry as 12 out of 35 passport machines were out of order.

According to a report presented by the Directorate of Passports (DP) to the parliamentary committee, the passport department received 9,727,415 applications during the last six years  and machine readable passports were issued to 9,455,022 persons. About 272,000 applications were pending due to faulty printing and laminating machines.

Almost 462,000 passports were issued during the period from October, 25 2004 to June, 30, 2005; 1,706,000 from July, 1, 2005 to June, 30, 2006; 1,926,000 from July, 2006 to June, 2007;  2,106,000 from July, 1, 2007 to June, 30, 2008 and 1,132,000 from July, 2009 to March, 2010,.

No new passport machine was purchased by Pakistan after 2004 and the existing machines have become outdated and they need to be changed promptly.