KARACHI: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday ordered authorities to ensure uninterrupted immigration processing at the Jinnah International Airport and directed them to keep in place an alternative system in case of any technical failure.

According to an official statement issued on Saturday, the minister paid a surprise visit to the airport, where he inspected the immigration counters and met passengers travelling abroad to inquire about their experiences with the immigration process.

The immigration system went down during his visit, prompting the minister to contact the relevant authorities on telephone and direct them to immediately resolve the technical fault, the statement said.

“The immigration process should not stop under any circumstances,” the interior minister said, adding that a back-up arrangement should be in place whenever the system goes down.

Mr Naqvi also ordered strict action against the passengers attempting to travel on fake documents.

He directed officials not to allow passengers to travel if their documents were incomplete or had not been properly verified, the statement added.

Later, the minister visited the Passport Office at Awami Markaz, where he met citizens who had come to obtain or renew their passports.

He asked applicants about the time taken from the issuance of tokens to their turn for processing.

According to the statement, citizens expressed satisfaction with the passport service and told the minister that the renewal process had been completed within minutes and that they had faced neither difficulty nor significant waiting.

The minister said the Passport Office at Awami Markaz would be expanded to provide greater convenience to citizens.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2026