Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, the Federal Minister of the Interior announced the issuance of cheap passports for unskilled workers who are considering travelling to the Middle East in search of jobs.
Sheikh Rasheed said in an informal conversation with the media on Thursday, that passports will be released for Rs. 3,000 for an extended period of 10 years.
The Minister also promised to make the visa process simple for Chinese nationals working on projects for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The Minister, expressing his commitment to boost the financial position of the Directorate of Immigration and Passports, announced the introduction of a new e-passport service on 28 April 2021.
He added that six months before the expiry of their passports, an SMS service will be launched to alert individuals. Also, the home delivery of passports has begun in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The minister also objected to the length of the Exit Control List (ECL) and the blacklist containing the names of individuals who are not permitted to leave the country.
“I have guided them to shorten the lists that has more than one hundred thousand individuals on the blacklist and the ECL. Only the ones engaged in criminal and anti-state activities should be included,” he said.
The Minister also issued a warning to the petrol pumps who sell smuggled petrol and diesel and said that the Ministry would take action against them if they did not refrain from doing so.
