The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (DGIP) has adopted a zero error policy in issuing passports to Pakistani nationals and no foreign national is being issued the Green Passport.
The DGIP is issuing Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) to people having computerised national identity cards (CNICs) of NADRA and zero tolerance is being shown for any error, said Wajid Ali Bokhari, Director General of Immigration and Passports, while talking to Business Recorder, here on Friday.
He dispelled the impression that any foreign national particularly Afghan national is being issued Pakistani passport by DGIP, saying that Green Book is asset of Pakistan and is only for Pakistani nationals. "Issuing Pakistani passport to any foreign national would be treacherous and person involved in this crime should be taken to task," he added.
He said that if a person is coming with a CNIC the DGIP has no option to issue him passport after matching his data with NADRA database. "I have issued orders to all the passport offices across the country that if they feel any doubt they stop the passport and get clearance from Intelligence Bureau," Bokhari maintained.
He stressed the need of financial autonomy for the DGIP, saying that the organisation is depositing over Rs 10 billion per annum in national exchequer. But it is not being provided sufficient budget as only 4.5 percent of the earned amount is the total budget of the DGIP, he added.
The DGIP is facing problems due to lack of proper equipment, which is reason for the delay in issuing the passports, he said. "We did not let the financial constraints create hurdle in working of the organisation and increased the number of passport offices from 30 to 60 during the last two years, which has helped millions to obtain passports at their nearest place," Bokhari claimed.
He said that the DGIP has issued over 10 million MRPs so far, which helped us to establish a database of our own. In 2004, Pakistan became one of the first countries in the world to issue the biometric passports, which are according to the publisher compliant with ICAO standards and dubbed Multi-biometric e-Passports. They do not carry the "chip inside" symbol, which is mandatory for ICAO-standard electronic passports. More than 7 million passports have been issued until now. The passports are printed by the governmental agency NADRA.
The system can help countries create a highly secure integrated system encompassing immigration, Automated Border Control and passport issuance while ensuring the genuineness of the holder as a valid citizen. The system requires minimum human intervention that ensures transparency while maintaining ease of exit/entry of citizens without the holders being harassed unnecessarily.