Pakistan Stops Issuing Machine-Readable Passports From Today — E-Passports Only From October 15, 2026

By Fatima Raza · Pakistan Desk · Updated October 15, 2026

From today, October 15, 2026, Pakistan has stopped issuing machine-readable passports (MRPs) for good. The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (DGI&P) has directed that every new passport application submitted on or after today will be processed as an e-passport — at passport offices across Pakistan and at Pakistani missions abroad. Your existing MRP, however, remains valid until its printed expiry date — nobody is cancelling passports overnight.

What exactly changes from today

The rule is straightforward. If you walked into a passport office yesterday, October 14, and submitted your application, you were the last in line for a machine-readable passport. From October 15 onward, passport offices and NADRA-style counters accept only e-passport applications. The DGI&P has sent implementation instructions to every passport office in the country as well as to Pakistani embassies and consulates overseas, and asked them to help applicants through the transition.

This is the final step of a shift that has been building for years. Pakistan has been issuing e-passports alongside MRPs since August 2023, and the October 15 deadline was chosen to draw the line — from today, the old booklet simply stops being printed for new applicants.

Your existing passport is still valid — don’t panic

The biggest confusion around this announcement, and the one I’ve seen spread fastest on social media, is the idea that current passports stop working after October 15. They do not. The DGI&P has been explicit: machine-readable passports issued before October 15, 2026 remain valid until their stated expiration dates and will be accepted for travel throughout their validity period.

The change only kicks in when your passport expires. At that point, when you apply for a renewal, you will no longer be offered an MRP — the renewal will come back to you as an e-passport. So if your passport is valid for another six years, you have nothing to do today. If it expires next month, expect the new chip-enabled booklet.

What to do if you’re applying for a passport now

For new applicants, the process is broadly the same — the main difference is the booklet you receive. Here is the practical side of it:

1. Apply through the normal route. The application and renewal procedure at passport offices stays the same; only the document issued has changed.
2. Budget for the e-passport fee. E-passport fees follow the DGI&P’s published schedule (table below) and are charged by page count and validity period.
3. Carry the same documents. Your CNIC, proof of address and supporting documents requirement doesn’t change because the booklet changed.
4. Overseas Pakistanis apply through their nearest Pakistani embassy or consulate — the New York consulate’s notice confirms missions abroad are implementing the same system.

E-passport fee schedule (DGI&P published rates)

Fees per the DGI&P fee schedule reported with the announcement; always confirm the latest figures at your passport office before paying.

What actually is an e-passport?

An e-passport looks like the passport you’re used to, with one crucial addition: a contactless electronic chip embedded in the booklet. The chip stores your biometric and personal information — photograph-related data, identification details and a digital signature — in a form that compatible immigration systems can read electronically. The document complies with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, which is what lets it pass through automated border gates abroad.

In plain terms: at airports with e-gates, your identity can be verified electronically instead of a manual inspection, which means faster lines and much harder-to-forge documents. That’s the whole point of the exercise.

Why Pakistan is doing this now

The decision traces back to a meeting at the Passport Headquarters in June 2026, where Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi decided on a full transition to e-passports specifically to eliminate fake passports and document fraud. Machine-readable passports, while a step up from hand-written ones, can still be forged; a chip carrying digitally signed biometric data is a different league of difficulty.

It’s also about keeping pace internationally. Over 150 countries now issue e-passports, and Pakistan’s travellers — especially the millions of overseas Pakistanis in the Gulf — face ever stricter checks at borders. Completing the transition means Pakistani passports stay compatible with the automated immigration systems being rolled out worldwide.

Overseas Pakistanis: what you should know

If you live abroad, the change applies to you exactly the same way — Pakistani diplomatic missions have been instructed to implement the e-passport-only system. The public notice that broke this story came from the Consulate General of Pakistan in New York on September 25, 2026, which tells you the missions were briefed well ahead of time. When your current MRP expires, apply through your consulate as usual and you’ll receive an e-passport.

Also read on TimelyUps

• Russian Interior Minister’s First-Ever Pakistan Visit — the Interior Ministry meeting where passport and immigration cooperation, with the DG Passports in attendance, was on the agenda.
• Pakistan, Russia Agree to Finalise Extradition Treaty — how the Interior Ministry’s document-security push connects to Pakistan’s wider border and identity agenda.

The bottom line: if your passport is valid, relax — and if you’re applying for a new one from today, welcome to the e-passport era.