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Pakistan to phase out machine-readable passports, move to e-passports
A home delivery system has also been established in Pakistan and across its consular services around the world, allowing applicants to get their passports at their doorstep
- PUBLISHED: Sat 20 Jun 2026, 11:49 AM
Pakistan will soon be transitioning to an entirely electronic passport system, Pakistani media reports say. Machine-readable passports will be phased out and replaced with e-passports. However, no date for phasing out the machine-readable passports has been set yet.
This decision was made during a special meeting at the Passport and Immigration Headquarters in Islamabad.
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This move comes as part of measures to enhance security, public convenience and improve passport services, and was announced by Pakistan's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi on Friday.
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E-passports are an extremely secure travel document embedded with an electronic chip. This chip allows its holders to pass through e-gates and securely stores unique identification data of the passport holder.
Pakistan's Dawn news outlet reported that Director General Passports and Immigration Muhammad Ali Randhawa briefed the minister on the reforms.
Randhawa informed the meeting that initial work on the home delivery of passports for citizens in Pakistan and abroad had been completed. He also said that all passport offices will also be moving to a cashless payment system from July 1, ending manual cash handling at banks.
A home delivery system has also been established in Pakistan and across its consular services around the world, allowing applicants to get their passports at their doorstep instead of having to head to the office to pick it up.
