Pakistan unable to print passports due to shortage of lamination paper.

Delhi: Citizens of Pakistan are encountering difficulties in acquiring passports as the country is grappling with a shortage of lamination paper. This crucial component for passports, typically imported from France, is in short supply, according to the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGI&P) in Pakistan. This scarcity of lamination paper has resulted in a widespread lack of passports across the nation.

Qadir Yar Tiwana, the Director General for Media of the Ministry of Interior, the parent ministry of DGI&P, told  that the government was doing its best to navigate the crisis.

“The situation will soon be under control and passport issuance will continue as normal,” Tiwana said, according to The Express Tribune. He further added that the department had already witnessed a steady decline in the backlog.

The shortage has affected thousands of Pakistanis who have been planning to travel abroad. Several students, who have looming admission deadlines in universities around the world, have blamed the inefficiency of the Pakistan government for the crisis.

Notably, this is not the first time that such a crisis has loomed in Pakistan. In 2013, the printing of Pakistani passports came to a halt due to the DGI&P owing money to printers and a lack of lamination papers.