I AND my wife recently visited the passport office at Awami Markaz in Karachi to apply for our passports. After a wait of hours in the queue, the process immediately devolved into a series of totally arbitrary demands. The official asked me for my CNIC and, unexpectedly, the CNICs of my siblings. Further, when I mentioned that I possessed an MA degree, I was asked to produce the original document. My wife faced similar demands; she was asked for her siblings’ CNICs, and, the pension slip of one of her brothers who is a retired government employee.

This pattern of demanding additional, often irrelevant, documentation seems to be a common tactic aimed at extortion through inconvenience and multiple visits.

The next day, we returned to the same office. Thankfully, a different official handled my wife’s application, and all her documents were accepted. I was not lucky enough, as I ran into the same person whom I had faced the previous day. This time, he introduced a new requirement; my parents’ death certificates.

Feeling exhausted, I spoke to some agents outside the passport office. Their revelation confirmed the worst suspicions regarding this manufactured mess. They demanded a payment of Rs2,500 to Rs3,000 to get ‘all the issues’ resolved there and then.

When I tried to bargain, they said they would get only Rs500, while the rest would go directly to the officials inside. They guaranteed that no additional documents would be required and the waiting queue would be skipped as well.

Talking to other applicants, I gathered within minutes several stories of people needing to pay the agents just to get inside the hall, or paying a ‘fee’ to clear a ‘hurdle’ in their case. It is quite clear that officials prefer the cases to come through the agents. When that does not happen, they come up with objections that force people to contact an agent. If this is not blatant corruption, what is?

The relevant authorities should take serious and immediate action to eradicate this exploitation, and ensure that citizens obtain their necessary travel documents without facing unnecessary harassment.

Fazal Mehmood Siddiqui
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2025