Deliberate delay in the process and the humiliating behaviour of passport officials force people to approach agents, as officials do not indulge in direct corruption to save their skins
MOST Karachiites think that it is harder to acquire a passport for a Pakistani than it is for a Bengali, Afghan or Burmese living here. This concept cannot be ruled out. In fact, many aliens land the opportunity to travel with the green passport.
Issuing passports to aliens, of course, has benefited some officials of the passport office, and some of the vendors sitting outside the office. But, at the same time, it damages the image of the country, and the ruin that is irreparable.
A large number of agents and sub-agents have invaded the only passport office in Karachi’s Saddar area. The benches, tables and chairs of vendors all around the office attract every passport-seeker. The crowded benches with applicants give the impression that hiring an agent for a passport is a mandatory procedure.
Sub-agents ask every passerby if they seek a passport, want to renew it or need assistance in filling an application form. After bargaining, they escort clients towards an agent and again commence their hunting for prospective clients.
To acquire a passport has never been an easy task for a legitimate applicant. In case an applicant makes a mistake by not hiring an agent, he keeps on running from pillar to post to get the passport as officials point out discrepancies in the application form and demand further non-relevant documents. If he attempts to clear objections raised by officials, and again reached the office, more objections are raised and he may never get his passport.
Deliberate delay in the process and the humiliating behaviour of officials force people to approach agents, as officials do not indulge in direct corruption to save their skins. People are left at the mercy of agents, eagerly waiting to solve problems against what they say is ‘a nominal fee’.
While agents are supposed to be a curse for legitimate citizens on the one hand, on the other they are a blessing for aliens. Contrary to tall claims about public service by the authorities concerned, the procedure of obtaining a passport and depositing fee in the designated branch of the bank without the help of an agent appears an insurmountable task.
A number of agents interviewed claimed they help people fill their application forms for Rs200 only. But it is observed that agents charge up to Rs2,000. It has been also observed that agents have a strong nexus with officials inside the passport office, and exorbitant charges are received to remove any ‘objection’ in getting a passport.
Almost all the agents practice without any license. Therefore, there is no check on them for their connivance with passport officials. The issuance of a passport to a wrong person has never made an agent accountable and no punitive action has ever been taken against them.
The network of these agents is deep-rooted. In the past, they had their connections in the old ID card offices. On the basis of the old ID cards, many illegal immigrants have now successfully gotten hold of Nadra’s computerized ID cards.
This illegal activity has brought disgrace to the country. Aliens with Pakistan passports travel abroad and are even involved in human and drug trafficking. Every countryman who has ever been abroad knows very well what reputation Pakistan enjoys in the international spotlight.
The authorities concerned claim that the procedure to get a passport has been simplified for the people. An ordinary passport can be obtained at the payment of Rs1,500 within a week and an urgent passport costs Rs4,000, which can be acquired within 24 hours.
The ground reality is contrary to these claims. It takes a day to submit the fee at the bank already occupied by more agents, who are given preference. One has to stand in a long queue and wait for his turn. It usually takes hours to get to the counter. And if an applicant cannot reach the counter by closing time, he has to come again the next working day.
After this ordeal, a number of windows of the passport office are approached by a candidate, if he is smart enough to think he can get a passport without the help of an agent. After a day of two, he surrenders himself to an agent, who obviously has contacts with the officials inside.
“I have been struggling to submit my application form for three days and finally decided to see an agent because I cannot take leave any more from my office. This agent says he can solve all the problems by taking Rs1,000 extra. I have to pay him as there is no any other option,” said an applicant, Raza Mehdi, a bank employee, sitting on a bench before an agent.
Besides officials and passport-seekers, no one is allowed to move on the premises of the passport office, but many agents can be seen freely moving in and out with their clients, helping them avoid every hurdle and hindrance, Raza claimed.
With the normalization of the relationship with India, the majority of Karachiites who have their relatives in the neighbouring country throng the passport office to get their travel documents renewed or acquire a new one.
“After a long time, I am able to go to India and see my sister, nephews and nieces. I am dying to get a passport at any cost,” said an old man, Abdul Rauf, outside the passport office.
“I paid extra money because I don’t want to be in a queue, I am a busy man and my time is more precious than money,” said a well-to-do businessman, Shakir Ahmed. Once an agent is hired, he gets rid of filling in application form, and depositing fee in the bank by standing in a long queue. Above all, the final interview by the officer responsible to ensure personal appearance of an applicant and verify his/her signature and thumb impression, gets easily done. Interestingly, these procedures take only an hour or two at the most with the help of an agent.
Deliberate delay in the process and the humiliating behaviour of passport officials force people to approach agents, as officials do not indulge in direct corruption to save their skins 
