Only e-passports after shift at offices and missions
The Interior Ministry told the National Assembly that new machine-readable passports will stop within about a month, while documents already issued stay valid until they expire.
The federal government plans to stop issuing machine-readable passports within about a month and move fully to e-passports.
After the shift, passport offices in Pakistan and missions abroad will issue only e-passports, the Interior Ministry told the National Assembly.
Machine-readable passports already issued will remain valid until their expiry dates.
Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry linked the change to global immigration standards and said an embedded chip is meant to strengthen security.
He cautioned that Pakistan’s large population and passport-office pressures could slow the rollout.