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‘Passports shortage’ ground holiday plans

DUBAI — Pakistani expats are going through the experience of seeing their leave plans go awry yet again, with the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai faced with a shortage of passport booklets.

The consulate has said that people applying for separate passport for their dependants or even for renewal can get the passports only after a month.

Earlier this month, several Pakistanis had to rush to get separate passports for their dependants following the UAE government’s recent directive to shift dependants out of the parents' passport. Several Pakistanis say the delay in the Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) project and the issuance of manual passport by the consulate have left them in a state of flux with regard to their holiday plans.

Najeeb Durrani, Acting Consul-General at the Pakistan Consulate, said: "The consulate is facing a shortage of passports due to which several people have been asked to collect their passports after a month’s time. The waiting period in Abu Dhabi is one and a half months."

The reason for the shortage was lack of supply of enough copies from Pakistan, he said, adding: "We have asked the ministry to provide us with extra copies in thousands to cope with the demand." "Pakistani expats are faced with two issues — to separate the passports as per the UAE government requirements and to apply for Machine Readable Passports (MRPs). Manual passports will be done away with soon. Therefore, it is a great chance for people to apply for the MRPs now," he said.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Farid Zaman, whose four children need separate passports now, said: "I am in a fix as the consulate says it would take time before the passports are delivered. I need to fly out as soon as possible because I have to attend a wedding. As it is, I am spending so much on getting the visas re-stamped and separating the passports."