Islamabad(National Times)The government has decided to keep at least one passport office open 24/7 in Karachi and Lahore for the convenience and ease of citizens in accessing passport services anytime, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Sunday.

This facilitation will start on May 7 at Karachi’s Regional Passport Office, Awami Markaz Sharea Faisal, and Regional Passport Office, Garden Town in Lahore.

The security czar made the announcement about the availability of passport services anytime in a post on the social media site, X, formerly Twitter. He said that the step would make it easier for people to access passport services at any time of the day.

“To give ease to the public and to facilitate, at least one passport office will be open 24/7 in both Lahore and Karachi! This will make it easier for everyone to access passport services anytime,” the minister wrote on the site.

It may be noted that the interior minister had recently suspended passport officials in light of increasing complaints of bribery and corruption inside passport offices.

Last month, the passport authorities faced a shortage of lamination sheets — the special papers with security features used in passports — causing delays in the issuance of the travel document.

As per a passport official, the lamination sheets are imported from Germany and thousands of people apply for passports on a daily basis.