Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior told Senator Talha Mahmood that it is not considering a passport-fee reduction, even as the government shifts new applications to e-passports. The ministry gave the answer in writing to a question from the senator.
Authorities have stopped issuing machine-readable passports to new applicants and now provide e-passports across the country. The normal fee for a five-year, 36-page passport has risen from Rs4,500 to Rs9,000.
Urgent processing for that passport now costs Rs15,000, up from Rs7,500. The revised charges apply in Lahore and the rest of Pakistan.
Existing machine-readable passports remain valid until their expiry dates. The ministry’s response also disclosed Rs219.931 billion in passport-fee collections across five financial years.
The new passport schedule doubles two common fees
The government’s replacement document carries a higher charge across the listed processing categories. The former fast-track rate for a machine-readable passport was Rs12,500; the corresponding e-passport costs Rs22,000.
| Passport and processing | Former fee | E-passport fee |
|---|---|---|
| Five-year, 36-page, normal | Rs4,500 | Rs9,000 |
| Five-year, 36-page, urgent | Rs7,500 | Rs15,000 |
| Fast-track equivalent | Rs12,500 | Rs22,000 |
Fees for 72-page passports will rise in the same proportion. The ministry’s answer rules out a fee reduction proposal being under consideration; it does not describe a separate review process or an alternative rate.
The change covers new applications throughout the country, not only applicants in Lahore. Holders of previously issued machine-readable passports do not need to replace them before expiry.
The ministry reported Rs219.931 billion in five-year receipts
The written response listed collections for each financial year from 2021-22 through 2025-26. Receipts rose in each of the first four years shown, then fell in the final year listed.
| Financial year | Passport-fee receipts |
|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Rs21.618 billion |
| 2022-23 | Rs34.495 billion |
| 2023-24 | Rs50.906 billion |
| 2024-25 | Rs64.392 billion |
| 2025-26 | Rs48.52 billion |
| Total | Rs219.931 billion |
The highest annual amount in the breakdown was Rs64.392 billion in 2024-25. The next year’s total was Rs48.52 billion.
Those figures cover passport fees collected by the government, rather than the number of documents issued. The separate issuance figures for 2025 include both machine-readable passports and e-passports.
More than five million passports were issued in 2025
The passport and immigration department attributed the fee increase to higher production costs for electronic documents using modern technologies. Its reported 2025 figures show 5,572,130 passports issued nationwide.
More than 3.27 million were machine-readable passports processed through the regular procedure. About 1.84 million went through urgent processing, while 276,789 were issued through the expedited procedure.
Nearly 180,000 e-passports were also issued during 2025. The figures include more than one passport type in that year, while the current policy described by the ministry calls for e-passports on all new applications.
Existing machine-readable passports remain valid through expiry
The transition does not cancel machine-readable passports already issued. They remain valid until their expiry dates.
To support the system, the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports installed 10 additional printing machines and six laminators. Round-the-clock service was introduced at 232 offices.
Pakistani missions abroad also operate 93 round-the-clock service counters. The ministry’s written response leaves the new fee schedule in place while existing machine-readable documents continue through their stated validity.
