Pakistan has discontinued the issuance of traditional machine-readable passports (MRPs), and passport offices across the country and Pakistani diplomatic missions abroad are now issuing only e-passports, effective 23 October 2026, according to a report by The News carried by Geo News. The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (DGI&P) said the 22-year-old MRP system has been phased out. People who already hold an MRP can keep using it until it expires, but expired MRPs will not be renewed, and holders will have to apply for an e-passport instead. The change completes the move to the new passport system, which the interior ministry had said in the National Assembly a week earlier would take place within a month.
Pakistan began issuing e-passports on 30 March 2022, initially for diplomats and residents of Islamabad, and in August 2023 all citizens were given the option of choosing between an MRP and an e-passport. MRPs themselves date back to 2004 and replaced handwritten passports, which Pakistan had issued since independence in 1947. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced in June 2026 that the government had decided to phase out MRPs and switch fully to e-passports, saying the transition would help eliminate fraud and forgery. Applications for new MRPs were initially due to stop from 15 October, according to earlier reports, and the 23 October date marks the point at which the shift was completed for all offices and missions.
An e-passport carries a contactless Near Field Communication (NFC) chip in one of its pages, and the chip stores the holder’s facial image, biographical details, a unique identification number, and a digital signature. The document follows the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and adds features such as laser engraving and infrared and ultraviolet security elements. When the e-passport was launched, officials said it carried 29 new security features compared with earlier passports. Because the chip can be read wirelessly at border control, e-passport holders can use automated e-gate facilities at airports that support them, which is meant to shorten immigration queues and allow real-time verification of the data on the document.
Other changes around passport services have been rolled out at the same time. Passport offices stopped accepting cash from 1 July 2026, and the DGI&P has been working on a dedicated mobile app for passport applications. NADRA has also opened e-passport renewal at its centres under an agreement with the directorate, while new issuance and amendments remain with the DGI&P. Because MRPs stay valid until expiry, many travellers will continue to use them for years, and the report does not say how many MRPs are still in circulation or whether any airports or countries have set separate requirements for them. For citizens applying for a passport now, the practical effect is that an e-passport is the only option, and renewals of MRPs will also have to be made as e-passports.
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