Pakistan’s e-passport launch date for ending machine-readable passport (MRP) issuance is within about a month, the federal government informed the National Assembly on Friday, 17 October 2026. The Ministry of Interior said that once the changeover is finished, passport offices across the country and Pakistani missions abroad will issue only electronic passports, or e-passports—booklets with a small electronic chip that stores identity data and is meant to be harder to fake than older documents.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry set out the timeline during Question Hour after MNA Malik Shakir Bashir Awan raised the matter. He said the government was working to bring in the new system in roughly a month so Pakistan can keep up with worldwide immigration rules and technology.
What will change at passport offices
After MRP printing stops, applicants at domestic passport offices and at missions overseas should receive e-passports only. That matters for Pakistanis renewing or applying from abroad as well as for those applying inside the country. Passports already issued as MRPs will not be cancelled early; they stay usable until each booklet’s own expiry date.
Chaudhry told the House that e-passports carry an embedded chip. In his account, that chip strengthens checks on who the holder is and is intended to block forgery, tampering, and fraudulent use. One fuller explanation given in the Assembly was that the chip holds the holder’s biometric and personal details to support identity checks at borders.
Why the government says it is moving now
Responding to a further question from Syed Tariq Hussain, the minister agreed that the current machine-readable system needs an upgrade because immigration requirements abroad keep changing. He said e-passport technology is already common worldwide and that Pakistan is moving onto the same track for that reason.
He also struck a cautious note: Pakistan’s large population and day-to-day strain at passport offices could push the timetable back. He still said the government was trying to finish the transition as soon as it can. On that basis, the public e-passport Pakistan launch date for a complete stop to new MRPs should be read as a near-term target of about one month, not a guarantee that every office will switch on the same morning.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Friday, 17 October 2026: The National Assembly is told the government will discontinue MRP issuance and move fully to e-passports.
- Within about a month of that briefing: Officials say MRP issuance is to stop and the new system is to be introduced.
- After the transition: Only e-passports are to be issued at passport offices in Pakistan and at Pakistani missions abroad.
- Until each booklet expires: Machine-readable passports already in people’s hands remain valid.
Fee schedules, step-by-step online forms, and renewal tariffs were not laid out in this Assembly exchange. Travellers and overseas Pakistanis should watch for separate instructions from passport authorities before assuming any change in cost or the usual application channel.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Sarkar ne kaha hai ke lagbhag ek mahine mein purane machine-readable passport banana band ho jayega. Us ke baad Pakistan aur bahir ke missions sirf e-passport denge, jisme security chip hoti hai. Jo MRP pehle se aap ke paas hai, woh apni expiry date tak chalega. Fees aur online apply ka naya tariqa is elaan mein clear nahi kiya gaya, is liye official update ka intezar karein.
