E-passport Pakistan launch date set within a month by govt
The e-passport Pakistan launch date for a full switch is within about a month, lawmakers heard, while existing machine-readable passports will stay valid until they expire.
The federal government told the National Assembly it will stop issuing machine-readable passports within about a month.
After the switch, passport offices in Pakistan and missions abroad will issue only e-passports.
Existing machine-readable passports will remain valid until their printed expiry dates.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry linked the move to global immigration and security standards.
He cautioned that population size and passport-office pressures could slow the rollout.