A passport is an official security document issued by a country to its citizens, granting them the right to travel internationally. Beyond its functional purpose, a passport serves as a symbol of national identity, international credibility, and personal freedom. 
In Pakistan three types of passports are issued with the validity of either 5-year or 10-year –      Green (Ordinary),     Blue (Official or Service), and     Red (Diplomatic). The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports in Islamabad is the issuing authority. 
The history of the Pakistani passport dates back to 1947, shortly after the creation of Pakistan following the partition of India. The changes have been implemented periodically in line with technological advancements. Pakistan introduced machine-readable passports (MRPs) in 2004 and biometric e-passports in 2022. These modern e-passports include a contactless chip embedded in a polycarbonate data page, storing biometric identifiers and advanced security features such as PKI, holograms, guilloché patterns, and ultraviolet micro-printing. 
The Pakistani passport stands at the lowest ebb in the comity of nations. It stands at 103rd position in January 2025 on the Henley Passport Index, just above worn torn and devastated countries like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. 
Domestically, Pakistan’s passport issuance system is hindered by severe administrative and infrastructure bottlenecks. Backlogs, shortages of functional machinery and equipment, raw materials and overall mismanagement have created a crisis like situation leaving thousands of applicants waiting for weeks, months and even years to receive their passports. Simultaneously, the country is witnessing a growing brain drain, as educated and skilled youth is leaving the country and seeking economic opportunities and improved living standards abroad. This mass outflow has intensified the pressure on passports and visa processing systems, visibly reflected in the long queues outside passport offices and the Gerry’s visa application centres. Exploiting this dysfunction, agent mafia, touts and agents   are roaming around these facilities, offering expedited services by taking illegal gratification and exorbitant illegal fees taking advantage of helpless people in connivance with the officials working in the public offices. The government has initiated crackdowns aimed at dismantling these illicit networks and restoring procedural transparency but with poor results and the helplessness still persists.