- Hundreds of citizens complain delay of four to five months in passport delivery
- Agents take Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 for an illegal but early delivery of passports
It has been two long hours that Amjad has been standing in a never ending queue at the passport office at Abbott Road. As he sweats in the scorching summer heat, Amjad says that he applied for a passport five months ago. The man was told that he would get his passport in two months but till date there is no clue of his travel document.
As Amjad slowly nears the information window in his queue, he witnesses that a man who applied for a passport on the same date as he did, bypasses the queue and goes straight in the office and after a few minutes comes back with his fresh passport. Infuriated, Amjad abandons the queue and approaches that man with hurried steps to enquire about the matter. The case turns out that the man had paid Rs 5,000 to an agent to get the job done in 10 days.
“Your passport is not ready yet. Come again after a few days,” is the persistent reply for an ordinary citizen of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from the passport offices in the city. Four to five months of delay in passport delivery is a routine matter for the passport officials. However, if you are wealthy enough to pay a few thousand rupees to one of the many agents who roam the vicinity, you can get your passport earlier than the ordinary citizens like Amjad would get.
A few months ago, the passport office opted for a short-cut to passport renewal; the officials used to stamp the passport on the spot, extending its expiry date. It helped in speeding up the process for at least those seeking renewal of their passports. However, the practice was discontinued in favour of printing of a fresh passport copy.
Hundreds of citizens at the Abbott Road and Garden Town passport offices have been complaining about the delay in obtaining their passports. The citizens who got their work done through agents told Pakistan Today that the touts worked in close liaison with the passport officials.
A citizen said that while he was escorted inside the office, his agent bribed everyone that passed his way inside the office; from the security guard to a senior official inside the office at Abbott Road.
Passport office sources told Pakistan Today that these agents had a tightly knitted network and they operated in connivance with the officials concerned. They said that it was impossible for an agent to get away with a passport without bribing the high-ups.
Moreover, sources said that officials in the passport office were not scared of anyone and indulged in corruption at ease as they knew how to get out of trouble without getting affected. He said that a proof of the influence the high-ups have was that they had stayed unaffected despite publishing of several news reports in the media.
Sources said that an enquiry was called when Shahid Iqbal, assistant director of passport offices, was found involved in illegally making passports of 11 Afghan nationals. They said that in spite of being found guilty of the charges Iqbal was not dismissed or tried under the law – he was merely transferred after his arrest and the matter was brushed under the carpet.
Pakistan Today observed that agents at the passport offices charge between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 for an early delivery of passports.
While some have had their work done through agents and several continue to await the delivery of their passports, Abbott Road Passport Office Assistant Director Shahzad has little to say about the matter. “We have eliminated the agent mafia in passport offices. No passport official is involved in any sort of malpractice,” he said, but hastened to add that the delay in passports was across the country and the government was working to resolve the issue.
Zardari, nawaz, or shahbaz ne general public ko relief dene k liye kuch kia hota to aj ye hal na hota mulk ka…
Sahi kaha ye itne ghatia hain noon league walay k metro chala rahay hain na k train. or metro b us shehr main jahan hr banday k pass apni ghari he. Jin ghareeb logon ko khanay k liye rooti nahi milti wo free safar krne k liye lahore jaye….????
Yar KPK ka bhi yahi haal hay sab chor hain, bus awaam ko zardari nawaz imran or altaf bewaqoof bana rahe hain
Respected Sir/Madam My Name is Liaquat Ali S/O Sabir Ali Jamali Requesting that My Passport Has Not Issued Yet it Has Taken alot of Time about Three Months So please Tell Me That How Much Time will you Take To Give Me My Passport 12 Days oF Passport Has Taken 90 Days Please Kindly Slove My Problem I Shall Be Thankful To You
Below is My Complete information of Passport Tracking
Issuing Date of Passport 06 February 2013
Token Number 12401182800
Call Number 35
RPO: Larkana'Pakistan
Name: Liaquat Ali
Citizen# 43406-0399355-1
Passport Type: Ordinary
Applicant Type: New
Applicant Urgency: Normal
Fee: PKR 3000/-
Expected Delivery Date: 23 February 2013
RESPECTED SIR/MADAM PLEASE CONTACT ME IF ANY OBJECTION IS IN ISSUING MY PASSPORT MY CELL# 0092-3033-876949
I HOPE THAT YOU WILL REPLY ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
hello sir i want passport
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my name is rao allikhana and i am belong from karachi pakistan i was applied passport new on 12-01-2013 and passport office gave the date 01-03-2013 i am going everyday to passport office and they said u come after two days then i went there and then they said come after two days. what is a joke we are pakistani but goverment is playing game with pakistani people i am requesting to all pakistan people please zardari and nawaz shareef ko pakistan say out karo yeh log america aur saudi arab kay agent hay
pakistani ab bhi hosh kay nakun lo
TOKEN NO 39 NAME MUJAHID HUSSAIN S/O MOHAMMED ANWAR . REQUIRED PASSPORT INQUIRY . NIC NO 31301-5863050-7
wat about the dsabled person fees?is it free ofcost?
I applied for 100 page passport last week and got within 2 days … The agent system is on peak in Lahore office. Normally it would have taken 15-20 days on urgent 100 page passport but they delivered it within 2 days , damage 6000 Rupees …
my passport expires in May 2014 so can i apply for renewal of passport now or i have to wait till November since law says that you can apply when renewal of passport 6 months before expiry date
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