The government has approved a uniform online system for issuing international driving permits across the country, making the service fully digital through the National Police Bureau. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced the move while chairing a meeting at the National Police Bureau, saying the new system will make it easier for citizens, especially those planning to travel abroad and requiring an internationally recognized version of their driving credentials.
The interior minister said the government will also introduce a uniform process for international driving permits, alongside police clearance certificates, aimed at reducing delays and simplifying procedures for applicants who have historically had to navigate separate, often inconsistent processes depending on which provincial or local office was handling their application. He said the National Police Bureau will handle police clearance certificates through its online portal, allowing citizens to apply from home without needing to visit government offices in person, extending the same digital convenience already being rolled out for the driving permit system to a related but administratively separate service.
The interior minister described making the National Police Bureau an active and dynamic institution as a continuing government priority, suggesting the digitization of these two services forms part of a broader institutional modernization effort rather than a standalone initiative. During his visit to the bureau, he also inspected renovation work underway at the building and received a briefing on ongoing reforms and other digital initiatives in progress, indicating the physical infrastructure upgrade is being carried out alongside the procedural and digital changes to the bureau’s services.
The announcement follows a related move a day earlier, when the government approved a separate nationwide online system for police character certificates, suggesting a coordinated push to digitize multiple National Police Bureau services within a short window rather than rolling them out individually over an extended period. Together, the two initiatives reflect a broader pattern across federal institutions in recent months of moving routine but frequently needed citizen services, from identity verification to police clearances, onto online platforms that reduce the need for in-person visits to government offices.
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