Govt to Phase Out Machine-Readable Passports in Favor of E-Passports
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to discontinue the issuance of traditional Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) and transition comprehensively to state-of-the-art electronic passports, the Ministry of Interior informed the National Assembly. The landmark policy shift is designed to modernize the country’s travel infrastructure and align national documentation systems with modern international civil aviation and global border security protocols.
In a written response submitted to the lower house of parliament following a query from Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Malik Shakir Bashir, the interior ministry affirmed that the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports is concluding final operational preparations. The upgraded e-passports incorporate an embedded secure microchip containing the bearer’s biometric data—including high-resolution facial recognition metrics and fingerprints—engineered to comply strictly with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) benchmarks.
The nationwide deployment of electronic passports is anticipated to transform border crossing experiences for Pakistani citizens abroad, granting them access to automated e-gates at global airports and eliminating lengthy manual immigration lines. Aviation and national security experts highlight that the cryptographic architecture within the microchips will virtually eliminate document forgery, counterfeit identity attempts, and illicit immigration, thereby bolstering the overall credibility of Pakistani travel documents on the global stage.
Officials assured citizens that existing machine-readable passports will remain valid until their stipulated dates of expiry, precluding any immediate administrative disruption for current passport holders. Upgraded issuance infrastructure is being integrated across designated domestic passport regional offices as well as foreign diplomatic missions, with full-scale operational rollout scheduled to begin within the month.