The Interior Ministry has announced the issuance of electronic passports from April 2021. The project had been delayed for many years, but now Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that historic decisions have been made regarding passports and a new passport will be issued from 28 April 2020.
Talking to reporters in Islamabad, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has announced to increase the validity of passport from five years to 10 years which will be issued from January 1 next year while from 28 April we are going to issue a new electronic passport, 120 days. Our goal is to launch a new e-passport so that all the data comes in and the country is honored.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the problem of the poor is that their work visa expires, the passport has five years but we will not increase the fee more than three thousand and from the first date they will be issued a 10-year passport.
He said that all Middle Eastern workers will get a ten-year visa instead of 5 years and this is a new gift for you from Imran Khan. Sheikh Rashid said that from today onwards passport SMS service will be available all over Pakistan. It is being started and its main purpose is that the person whose passport is about to expire will be informed six months in advance that you have to get your passport made.
“I have been launching e-services for 191 countries all over the world from January 1. The Prime Minister has instructed me to start an online passport service but it will take more than 120 days,” he said. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed that the sellers of smuggled oil and petrol should be ordered to stop buying and selling within 7 days. This amounts to two to three billion dollars and if they do not stop. The Interior Ministry will close their petrol pumps.
He said that within 120 days we will also issue an expro to ensure that the Chinese in the Cepec-Pack do not have to come to the Ministry of Interior. Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said that he has directed to reduce the blacklist of exit control list, 66 thousand people are blacklisted in FIA and 34 thousand people are blacklisted in the passport, I have told them that those who have a criminal record. Or have been involved in anti-state activities, blacklist them, reduce it to 25,000, reduce the remaining 75,000.
Replying to a question regarding the increase in salaries, he said that the economic condition of the passport holders is very bad. He asked for a budget of Rs 7 billion and got Rs 2 billion. He said that he would improve the financial situation by meeting Hafeez Sheikh. “The interior ministry was not ready to extend the passport period to 10 years and they are saying increase the fees and we need more funding for passport immigration,”
He said that we did not take back anyone’s security, Maulana Fazlur Rehman is the real root of this riot, my job was to tell, tomorrow they should not sue me, as Benazir Shaheed was also told. And let those who said your security is at risk of being prosecuted. My job as a minister was to tell them that their names are at the top of the list of 20 people
Sheikh Rashid said that politically I feel that the Pakistan Democratic Movement will not resign and my political analysis is that they will participate in the Senate elections and if not to participate in the PPP mini-election will not apply. He said that MQM is our ally, will not be angry. In response to another question, he said that the real agenda and plan belongs to Maulana Fazlur Rehman who wants to spread chaos and disorder in this country, who use madrassas. I want to bring his power to Islamabad by doing so. I can only request Fazlur Rehman to have mercy on the politics, democracy, and himself of this country.
