Amendments have been suggested to passport rules in order to align them with modern systems at a meeting on Monday.
The meeting was chaired by the Director General (DG) of Immigration and Passports, Muhammad Ali Randhawa.
What was discussed during the meeting?
During the meeting, steps were reviewed to modernise the passport services.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the issuance of passports through NADRA centres and the ‘Pak-ID’ app were also under discussion.
In addition to this, finalising the policy framework for passport services was also discussed.
The meeting also focused on strengthening coordination among relevant institutions to improve passport services. The improvement of service delivery through digital platforms was also reviewed.
DG Immigration Muhammad Ali Randhawa stated that making passport services modern and efficient is the organization’s top priority.
Govt plans to end blue passport facility for ex-bureaucrats’ kids
The Senate on Monday passed the Passports (Amendment) Bill 2026. The move came during a debate over official blue passports for lawmakers and their families.
The government also announced plans to introduce a new bill to end this facility for the children of retired senior government officers.
What did the government say?
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told the Senate that the government would introduce new legislation to stop issuing blue passports to the families of retired bureaucrats.
He said that the number of official passports must be controlled to protect Pakistan’s image abroad.
Chaudhry said the government had reduced the number of blue passports from 75,000 to 45,000. Around 30,000 unnecessary or inactive passports had been cancelled.
He added that European countries and Canada had raised concerns about the use of official passports.
