Pakistan to roll out e-passports 'within a month'

The government has decided to discontinue Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) and replace them with electronic passports (e-passports), the interior ministry has informed the National Assembly.

Responding to MNA Malik Shakir Bashir Awan during the question and answer session in the NA on Friday, the interior ministry said that the issuance of MRPs would be discontinued within a month and, thereafter, only e-passports would be issued by the passport offices and Pakistan missions abroad, according to The News.

However, MRPs already issued would remain valid until their respective dates of expiry.

Responding to supplementary questions, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the government was working to replace machine-readable passports with electronic passports (e-passports), with the new system expected to be introduced within a month.

He said Pakistan was moving towards e-passports in line with rapid technological changes in global immigration systems. He said the electronic chip embedded in the new passports would make forgery impossible, adding that the government was making every effort to introduce the system within approximately a month.

However, he cautioned that the country’s large population and operational challenges faced by passport offices could cause some delay, while reiterating the government’s commitment to ensuring the rollout as soon as possible.

Responding to a supplementary question by Syed Tariq Hussain, the minister agreed that the existing machine-readable passport system needed to be upgraded in view of changing global immigration requirements. He said e-passport technology was being used worldwide and Pakistan was adopting the system for the same reason.

Also, the federal government issued 13,922 prohibited- and non-prohibited-bore arms licences during three years — 2024, 2025 and 2026 — according to figures submitted by the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control to the National Assembly.

In a written reply to a question by MNA Naveed Aamir, Interior Minister Senator Mohsin Naqvi said the licences were issued under Rules 4 and 6 of the Pakistan Arms Rules, 2023.

NA Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah questioned the classification of Afghan nationals as Pakistan’s largest source of tourists, expressing dissatisfaction with the figures presented by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) and observing that not everyone entering Pakistan from Afghanistan could be considered a tourist.

Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Dr Nafisa Shah said Afghanistan topped the ministry’s list of countries sending tourists to Pakistan, followed by the United Kingdom. She questioned why Pakistan was not effectively utilising its historical heritage, particularly Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, to attract international visitors and generate much-needed foreign exchange.

The figures provided by the ministry prompted the deputy speaker to raise questions about the classification of Afghan arrivals, pointing out that all Afghan nationals entering Pakistan could not be categorised as tourists.

Minister of State Awn Chaudhry assured the House that he would review the matter and ensure that petrol allowances and other perks were aligned with the government’s austerity policy.