ISLAMABAD: Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Consular Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain has announced the discontinuation of weekend holidays to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.
He said the consulate is processing approximately 200 passports daily to provide better services to the Pakistani diaspora.
Chaudhry Salik Hussain, in his statement, emphasized that the Ministry is fully aware of the issues faced by overseas Pakistanis and that addressing their concerns is a top priority for the government. He specifically mentioned the consulate in Barcelona, Spain, where weekend holidays have been eliminated to further ease the process for Pakistani nationals living abroad.
The minister explained that new passports will only be issued with a valid justification, while renewals will be processed based on the passport’s expiration. In case of lost passports, a new one will only be issued upon presenting a loss report. For permanent passport issuance in Spain, a copy of the previous passport or a passport loss report is now mandatory.
Chaudhry Salik Hussain also assured that the Ministry is in constant contact with the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports and is actively working on making the passport loss reporting procedure more flexible.
