LOWER DIR – Passport applicants in Pakistan are encountering significant delays, with over 50,000 passports reportedly pending issuance for more than three months. The delay has particularly affected pilgrims intending to perform Umrah and Hajj, causing severe inconvenience to thousands of individuals from Chakdarra, Batkhela, Swat, and surrounding areas.
Several protesters, including Saleemullah and Shahabur Rehman, voiced their grievances, stating that despite applying for Umrah and Hajj visas three months prior, they have yet to receive their passports. Despite paying the required fees at the Islamabad head office, their applications remain unprocessed.
Officials at the passport office attribute the backlog to the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of passport applications over several months. While acknowledging the daily protests by applicants, they claim that the Islamabad head office is overwhelmed with similar complaints.
A passport applicant from Malakand division informed this correspondent that if passports are not issued within a week, demonstrators, including assembly members, plan to stage a protest outside the Islamabad head office to demand immediate action.
