Pakistan’s Directorate General of Immigration and Passports is accelerating a comprehensive overhaul of its passport services, with Director General Muhammad Ali Randhawa chairing a high level meeting on August 13 that reviewed performance, ongoing projects and a package of proposed reforms targeting overseas Pakistanis specifically. The meeting placed particular emphasis on expanding e-passport facilities abroad and reducing the procedural complications that have long frustrated members of the diaspora community when applying for or renewing their travel documents.
The expansion builds on a series of reforms the Directorate has rolled out throughout 2026, representing what officials describe as the most significant modernisation push the department has undertaken in two decades. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi approved a full transition from machine readable passports to e-passports on June 19, stating that the shift is intended to end fraud and forgery associated with passport documents. No specific cutoff date has yet been set for phasing out the older machine readable passports, though existing valid passports remain usable until further notice is issued. Pakistan’s e-passport embeds a contactless electronic chip storing biometric information, including facial details, biographical data, a unique identification number and a digital signature, built to comply with International Civil Aviation Organization standards and allowing holders to use automated e-gates at airports around the world, reducing wait times at immigration counters considerably.
Among the most practically significant changes under discussion is a new home delivery system for passports. Randhawa confirmed that initial work on the service has already been completed, with TCS handling domestic deliveries and DHL serving Pakistani applicants at overseas missions. Applicants will pay a nominal courier fee, with passports shipped directly to their doorstep from Islamabad. The service is launching domestically first, with a second phase extending the option to overseas Pakistanis. Alongside this, the department is developing a dedicated mobile application intended to let citizens apply for passports online from anywhere, including from abroad, with officials currently evaluating whether to build a standalone application or expand the National Database and Registration Authority’s existing Pak ID platform to accept passport applications directly. Once operational, the application would remove the requirement for overseas Pakistanis to physically visit a consulate for initial submission, although biometric capture may still require an in person visit.
All passport offices transitioned to cashless operations on July 1, 2026, ending manual cash handling that had previously been processed through National Bank of Pakistan branches. Applicants now pay through QR codes displayed on their tokens using mobile banking applications such as JazzCash and Easypaisa. An artificial intelligence powered chatbot is also under development, intended to guide applicants through procedures, document requirements and passport status tracking, while easing pressure on the department’s call centre operations.
Randhawa has directed officials to prioritise legal and policy reforms alongside the broader digital transformation effort, assigning specific responsibilities for advancing each initiative and ordering that all projects be completed within their stipulated timelines. The instruction signals an effort to move the department’s entire reform package from the planning stage into full implementation before the end of 2026, positioning the passport directorate’s modernisation drive as one of the more comprehensive digital governance overhauls currently underway within a single federal department.
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