The UAE News report: There is a major relief for overseas Pakistanis as the Government of Pakistan has reduced passport renewal fees drastically.
The major fee reduction, up to 50 per cent, applies to all categories including ordinary as well as urgent renewals.
It is announced that the prices have been reduced across the board for both five- and 10-year, as well as ordinary and urgent passports. In addition, fees have also been reduced for people seeking reissuance of passport if they have lost it.
All the non-resident Pakistanis living and working here will benefit from this decision by the government, especially the lower-income group, said Ahmed Amjad Ali, Pakistan Consul General in Dubai.
Ali pointed out that this was the need of the hour, considering people had lost jobs and salaries were cut during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“During coronavirus, many people were laid off and salaries were cut so it is a big relief for Pakistanis living here as prices for passports have been reduced between 20 to 45 per cent in some categories. The prices were reduced last month and this will benefit everyone, especially the lower strata of the community,” he pointed out.
The price of five-year ordinary machine readable passport of 36 pages has been reduced from Dh150 to Dh85, 72 pages passport from Dh280 to Dh155, and 100 pages passport from Dh300 to Dh170.
As the UAE is home to the second-highest number of non-resident Pakistanis in the world, there are approximately 1.6 million Pakistanis living and working in the country.
Long-time residents of Pakistanis in the UAE warmly welcomedthe fee reduction announcement.
“The PTI government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan deserves accolades for slashing passport fees as it directly benefits overseas Pakistanis. The significant fee reduction is also beneficial for the lower-income group, which is already bearing the brunt of Covid-19 pandemic. In my view, it is a big relief for the expatriates and more needs to be done for us as our contribution towards uplifting the country’s struggling economy is immense,” said Tanveer Usman, a long time resident Pakistani in the UAE.
Salman Shakil Shaikh, who is living and working in Sharjah for over 15 years, said: “It is indeed very good news for overseas Pakistanis. It will help reduce the financial burden of big families during Covid-19 pandemic time.”
