Pakistan citizens face backlog of passports due to shortage of lamination paper

Pakistan imports the lamination paper for its passports from France. (File photo)

Pakistani citizens are currently facing difficulty securing new passports and have a backlog of about lakhs of unprinted passports due to a scarcity of lamination paper which is imported from France, the country's local media reported.

The situation has put the future of thousands of Pakistan citizens who had plans to travel abroad for study, work, or leisure in jeopardy.

Zain Ijaz, a resident of Gujrat in Pakistan, had long dreamt of studying in the United Kingdom. When he finally secured admission to a university in the UK, it seemed like his dream was within reach. But, an extraordinary delay in getting his passport now threatens to shatter his dreams, reported The Express Tribune.

"I was all set to move to Dubai for work soon. My family and I were beyond ecstatic that our fortunes would finally change but the mismanagement of the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGI&P) seems to have cost me my golden ticket out poverty and this country," lamented Gul, who belongs to a far-flung area in Punjab.

Hira, a student from Peshawar, can relate to Gul's ordeal. "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," a visibly upset Hira complained, further adding that it was unfair that she was paying the price for a government department's inefficiency.

Times of Karachi reported that the country has a backlog of about 7 lakh unprinted passports, and once the lamination paper is received, printing will continue even on weekends to make up for the lost time.

This, however, isn't the first time that Pakistan is facing such a crisis. In 2013, passport printing came to a similar grinding halt due to the DGI&P owing money to printers and a lack of lamination papers, The Express Tribune reported.

(With inputs from ANI)

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