Pakistan moves to cashless payments for passports

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Wednesday that the country had moved to cashless transactions at all passport offices.

On June 19, the government decided to digitalize the passport issuing system as part of sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing immigration services and eliminating fraud. The Interior Ministry had announced that the cashless payment system introduced at passport offices and online portal would be transferred to the Pak-ID platform.

In an article on X today, Naqvi said, “From today, cashless transactions are operational at all passport offices in Pakistan. Applicants no longer need to queue in long lines or wait for hours to make payments. This important reform was launched on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and our team implemented it successfully. »

Naqvi stressed that the move would speed up services at all passport offices and ensure transparency and convenience for citizens.

He also congratulated the entire team on the digital financial shift and said “many more steps” were to come.

Read: Pakistan will only issue e-passports

A week earlier, Director General of Immigration and Passports Muhammad Ali Randhawa had said the country would gradually shift to issuing only e-passports (e-passports), while cash payments for passport fees would be removed from July 1 (today) in favor of a QR code-based digital payment system.

The decision was taken on June 23 at a high-level meeting chaired by the Director General at the headquarters in Islamabad.

The meeting members were further informed that the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports would soon launch a dedicated passport mobile application, enabling Pakistani citizens, both at home and abroad, to apply for passport online from home.

Applicants would also be able to receive their passport at their doorstep, with TCS and DHL engaged to provide delivery services.

Officials said the move would significantly reduce congestion at passport offices.