Pakistan’s New ePassport

A brief review of the launch of Pakistan’s ePassport in August’s edition of ID & Secure Document News™ is followed up here with a more detailed examination of the new document.

The ePassport is already very common and used in more than 150 countries worldwide. Most countries prefer, and have already switched to ePassport to stay up to date with better border security protocols.

In Pakistan, the ePassport was launched on 30 March 2022 to boost security and smooth international travel for its citizens. The first such passport was issued to the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, followed by diplomatic and government officials.

The Directorate General Immigration & Passports started to issue all categories of passport, including ordinary ePassports, from Islamabad on 10 June 2023, and the programme was inaugurated nationwide on 16 August 2023.