Pakistan’s passport delivery time revised: Here’s how many days are needed to get new passport

ISLAMABAD – The official delivery time for Pakistan’s passport has been reduced despite the fact that the number of applicants have increased in recent months.

The Director General Immigration and Passports issued an official notification in this regard, announcing the revised time needed to get a passport for all categories.  

According to the notification, the delivery time for normal, urgent and fast-track passport services has been reduced to 10 days, four days and two days respectively.

The previous delivery times for normal passport was 21 days, for urgent passport it was seven days while four days were needed to receive passport through fast-track service.

The reduction in delivery times has relieved the applicants who had been facing delays due to backlog as well as slow processing speed.

The decision comes at a time when the passport offices in different cities are witnessing increased number of applicants due to multiple reasons including brain drain amid tough economic conditions. 

The new delivery time will facilitate those who need passport urgently due to medical or employment related reasons.

Though needed as a travel document, the Pakistani passport was listed as the fourth worst in the world for another time by the Henley Passport Index, which classifies travel documents from different countries in light of international mobility.

According to the Henley Passport Index for 2023, the South Asian country is placed at the 106th position on the list — the fourth-worst in the index — with visa-free access to only 32 destinations across the world.

The three other countries’ passports that rank lower than Pakistan’s are Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Earlier in the first quarter of 2022, Pakistani passport holders enjoyed visa-free access to 31 nations but in the newly unveiled index, the Pakistani passport has added one more place.