Dubai: Pakistani missions in the UAE have stopped issuing manual passports with immediate effect following instructions from their government, Gulf News has learnt.

“We have stopped issuing old manual passports with the exception of new born babies,” said Consul General of Pakistan Amjad Ali Sher.

He said the decision came after the instructions from the Pakistan government. “We now only issue machine readable passports (MRPs),” he added.

The new decision, however, has led to chaos at the missions as hundreds of people swarmed the passport sections queuing up for hours to get their MRPs. Every applicant has to go in person to get the MRP which is biometric passport. Every applicant has to give his finger print and gets photographed at the consulate to apply for the MRP.

The Consul General has advised applicants to apply for the MRP well in advance because it takes time to get it. There is no more service of same day urgent passport. It takes 10 to 15 days to get an urgent MRP while the delivery of MRP with normal fee takes two to three months.

The manual passport can be renewed for upto three months only in case of extreme emergencies but the applicant has to apply for the MRP as well.

“We have been issuing both the MRP and the manual handwritten passports for the last few years to facilitate Pakistani residents here but now they will get only the MRP following the government decision and international requirements,” said another senior official at the consulate. Manual passports stopped being issued in Pakistan about five years ago.

People have been facing problems in getting the MRP because of huge rush at the consulate. “I came to the consulate around 10 am and I was told that the ‘tokens’ were closed and I have to come again the next day,” said an applicant.

Tokens are issued to ensure proper queue system but the system does not cater to the huge number of applicants as large number of people has to go back disappointed without even filing the applications.

“There is no room even to stand in the passport section and people have to stand in queues in the scorching heat,” said an applicant, who went to the consulate at around 6am and found dozens of people waiting outside the consulate.

There is also no dedicated place for women and children. “The consulate should expand the facility with more counters and more manpower because the current service is not enough at all,” said Irum, a female applicant who was also standing in the heat.

According to a consulate official, an average of 800 to 900 applicants visit the consulate every working day to get various services including passport renewals, national identity cards, attestation of documents and affidavits in addition to welfare and visa services.

This includes some 500 to 600 people who apply for passport renewals every day but the thing MRP staff cannot handle such a large number of applicants.

The excessive delay in delivery of passports has also led to a plethora of problems for applicants. While the application is received at the missions, the MRPs are issued from Pakistan. 
 
New services

Pakistani Consul General Amjad Ali Sher said the consulate would introduce a number of new services to ensure hassle free renewal of the machine readable passports (MRPs).

“We are going to start evening shift from next week to cope with the heavy rush of applicants,” he told Gulf News. The evening shift will operate from 4.30pm to 7.30pm.

Also, he said that consulate will remain open on Fridays every fortnight for applicants from Northern Emirates who cannot come to the consulate during working days due to their work commitments.

“We will run a bus service from Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah on every Friday to bring applicants to the consulate to get their passports renewed,” he added.

Soon, the consulate will also introduce appointment system for applicants so they do not have to wait in queues for long. The consulate has also requested the government to increase the number of staff at the passport section to reduce the application processing time.