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MRPs delayed as Pak mission awaits approval

DUBAI — Pakistanis residing in the UAE will not be issued Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) for some more time because the Pakistan government has not yet given the go-ahead to the mission.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Pakistan’s Acting Consul-General Najeeb Durrani said that though the whole system, including the computer machines required to start receiving applications locally were ready, the green signal was awaited from the Pakistan government.

“It seems that the UK mission will be inaugurated before the one in Dubai. So, issuing of MRPs locally is expected to be delayed further,” he added.

But before acquiring a MRP, all Pakistani expatriates will be required to acquire National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) which are already being issued at the consulate.

The Pakistan government has introduced MRPs incorporating special security features designed to check human trafficking and forgery that fill all basic requirements of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The new passports will contain digitally printed personal data with a photograph which cannot be tampered with.

Under the procedure of getting new passports, no application or photos are required from the applicants as they only have to bring their Nicops with a photocopy and a bank receipt after depositing the prescribed passport fee. All data is entered into the system and the photograph is made digitally.

An immigration official also conducts a brief interview to check that the applicant holds Pakistani nationality.

The new passports contain two machine-readable pages containing all the basic personal information. Also present is a special ‘bar code’ as the biometric identifier of the MRP holder.