ISLAMABAD, May 26: The government decided on Saturday to open Nadra and passport offices in another 30 countries in the next six months to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.

The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

The interior secretary, the director general, passports, Nadra’s deputy chairman, chief commissioner of Islamabad, the director general of National Crisis Management Cell and other officials attended the meeting.

The minister directed the officials concerned to take every possible step to solve the problems of overseas Pakistanis related to Nadra and passports.

He said 86 foreign missions of Pakistan did not have Nadra and passport offices. Passport offices in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Greece, the Netherlands and New Zealand would be opened within two months and passport offices would be set up in Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow by the end of next month.

The overseas Pakistanis would also have the facility of machine-readable passports at these offices, he added. Mr Malik said he had ordered immediate posting of staff in Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Canberra, Damascus and Madrid where the system to issue machine-readable passports had already been installed. An additional Nadra counter at the Pakistan’s High Commission in London would be established, he said.

He said Nadra and passport offices would also be set up in five states of the United Arab Emirates.

The minister said that passport staff would be doubled in Jeddah and Riyadh and a new passport office would be established in Dammam. The Saudi government had allowed Pakistani citizens to travel on manual passports till 2015, he added.

He said instructions had been issued to restore the facility of Pakistan origin card for the wives of overseas Pakistanis.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.