E-passport issuance facility available at all offices across country

Lahore: After Islamabad, the issuance of e-passports has been started from all passport offices across the country, the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (DGI&P) has also issued a letter regarding the fee schedule.

According to details, for five-year e-passport, the normal fee of 36 pages will be Rs9,000, while the fee of 36 pages urgent e-passport is fixed at Rs15,000.

For five years e-passport, the normal fee of 72 pages e-passport is fixed at 16,500 rupees, and the fee of Rs27,000 is fixed for urgent e-passport.

Normal fee for 10-year passport containing 36 pages is fixed at Rs13,500, urgent fee of 10-year passport will be 22,500 rupees.

The normal fee for 72-page ten-year passport will be Rs.24,750 and the urgent will be Rs.40,500. The normal passport fee will remain as before.

The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports stated that the fee schedule has come into effect from August 16.

What is e-Passport?

The e-Passport is a highly secure travel document. It has an electronic chip embedded in one of the passport pages, which will be used to store biometric information about the holder.

The chip contains data that will verify the passport holder’s identity and will include the biometrics of the passport holder, the personal data found on the data page of the passport, a unique identification number and a digital signature.

An e-passport has a contactless (NFC) chip on it which means that those passports can be read electronically. The newly launched e-Passports in Pakistan are in compliance with the United Nations’ ICAO standards.