Pakistan unable to print passports due to shortage of lamination paper

Islamabad: Pakistan is facing glaring shortage of lamination paper that the country is unable to print new passports, NDTV reported citing the Express Tribune.

Pakistan has been reeling under worsening economic crisis with shortages in essential supplies.

Most of the time it is the lack of foods that took people to the streets in protest against the country’s inefficient government.

Now thousands of Pakistanis who need to fly abroad for study, work, and leisure are stuck in a limbo as the country is struggling to supply them with the vital travel document.

Many students, waiting to get to UK or Italy, are concerned about long wait likely to eat into their aspirations and opportunities abroad.

‘My student visa for Italy was recently approved and I had to be in the country in October. However, the unavailability of a passport robbed me of an opportunity to leave,’ Hira, a student, was quoted as saying.

Pakistan, which depends on France for lamination papers, faced similar situation in 2013 when the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGI&P) owed money to printers.

Qadir Yar Tiwana, the Director General for Media of the Ministry of Interior, said the situation will be under control soon, resuming issuance of passports.

Many Pakistanis, however, complain that authorities have given them vain assurance that passports are ready for pickup without actually that being so.

‘Ever since September the passport office has been stating that your passport will come next week but multiple weeks have passed and they keep repeating the same,’ said Muhammad Imran, a resident of Peshawar, was quoted as saying.

A senior officer in Peshawar passport office reportedly said the country could process only 12 to 13 passports a day where it previously churned out 3,000 to 4,000 green books a day.