Saturday, June 04, 2005
Spent Saturday morning at NADRA's offices at the Awami Markaz, in the hope of applying for a fancy RFID-powered, unencrypted, Machine Readable Passport with a religion column.Here is a survival guide for anyone who has similar goals in life:
Ordinary Passports cost Rs. 2,100 and you can get yours within 12-15 days.
Urgent Passports cost Rs. 4,500 (I think) and can be collected within a week.
If you wish to save time and khwari, send someone to make the payment at least a day in advance.
The bank at Awami Markaz opens at 9:00 am. The person who goes to make the payment should carry your original Computerized ID Card and a photocopy, just to be safe. The bank will hand over a receipt/challan. Store it safely and take it with you whenever you decide to apply.
The following documents are required/recommended:
- Original Computerized ID Card
- Photocopy of Computerized ID Card
- Existing Passport
- Photocopy of Existing Passport
- Bank Receipt/Challan
- Copies of Educational Degrees
- Employer's Letter
Chances are that they won't ask for the last two items but just in case ...
If you were originally from India, carry proof of Pakistani citizenship. Your current passport will NOT be adequate proof. Take along old passports and registration documents, if your place of birth is India and is listed as such in your current passport. I regret that I have no idea about what students and under 18 kids require in terms of documentation.
On the designated day, wake up early and consume any form of caffeine-intensive starter fluid. Plan to get to Awami Markaz at around 7:30 am. Take along some biscuits or sweets for a shot of energy during your ordeal.
Getting there early will ensure a space in the free car parking area. Join the queue. The lines for ladies and men are separate. Your place in this line has no bearing on the token number that will eventually be issued to you. Avoid all eye contact and verbal interaction with "passport agents".
The doors to enter the Awami Markaz will open at 8:00 am. Brace yourself. Everyone will go mad - in true Pakistani style. Your running speed and jungliness level will determine your position in the next queue. If you have paid in advance, ensure that you join the right queue - i.e. the one where everyone has a valid bank receipt/challan. If I am not mistaken, there is a separate area for senior citizens (age 60 and up) but am not sure where that is. Do ask if you are 60 or older. Keep your challan and original ID card handy. You will be behind a steel jaali and the guards will let a few people in at a time.
This is the worst component of the process purely because of the behaviour of our fellow Pakistanis, who simply have not learnt how to behave in a civilized manner. The guards on duty were very efficient - they randomly checked people's documents to ensure they had the right things with them, got rid of non-compliant wasters, answered questions knowledgeably, and broke up fights as and when they ensued.
When you reach the front of the queue, you will be let in to a large, air-conditioned hall where all the high-tech action takes place. You will join another queue where you will be issued a token. The token issuance counter is Step 1 of the process. You will be asked to hand over your bank receipt/challan and original, computerized ID Card. The ID Card will be stuck into a reader and a printout will be generated with your token number. Hang on to this for dear life.
It was 8:30 am by this time. We had been shunted around by some burqa-clad ladies and lost our place in one of the lines - my number was 78 and my mother's was 75.
The token number you are given will be flashed on screens at every stage of the process so don't start reading a book.
Step 2 is Biometrics. Thumb and index finger impressions for your left and right hand will be taken here.
Step 3 is Photography. They have Canon A80 digital cameras mounted on tripods. When your number flashes on the screen, go and have your picture taken. If you wear glasses, they will make you take them off. Make sure you react quickly if you don't like your picture (I couldn't see without my glasses!) because the man will save it quickly and then won't entertain reviews.
Step 4 is Data Entry. Monitors are provided for you to verify your data as it is being entered by the operator. Ensure that all the information is correct and make the guy fix mistakes, if any. Once the data has been entered, a printout will be generated with all your information. Make sure everything is valid and sign it in two places.
My mother's place of birth was Calcutta so she got zapped at the Data Entry stage. We had to go home and bring back registration documents proving Pakistani citizenship, even though she came to Pakistan in 1956.
Step 5 is the BL Counter - no idea what BL stands for. Some security type folks will take the printout and might ask you a few questions about where you work. They will stamp the printout and you will now be ready for the last stage.
Step 6 is the interview. There are about 6 or 7 rooms occupied by officious men. When your token number flashes, for the last time, go into the appropriate room and hand over the printout, the bank receipt, all the photocopies, your passport, ID card, and anything else they may ask for. If your passport has no valid visas in it, it will be cancelled. So be sure you answer accurately when they ask if you have any valid visas in your current passport. They will then scribble something on the printout that has your token number on it and that shall serve as your receipt to collect your passport within 15 days from the Saddar passport office.
I was done at 9:30 am. However, we had to come back with my mother's additional documents. Rushed home, got the papers and went back to the Awami Markaz. By now, it was around 10:30 am. There was no parking in the parking lot. Charmed one of the guards into helping out.
As we already had a token number, we entered through a different door. By this time, the hall was a mad house. The numbers had entered the 250 range and one could barely breathe or talk or think. We had to go back to Step 1 and get Number 75 re-activated. It flashed on the Data Entry screens a few seconds later. Got done with the entire process within 30 minutes.
If you have all your documents in order and get there early, having paid in advance, you should be done in a couple of hours. NADRA was efficient and did not create hurdles at any stage. The core problem lies with the average Pakistani citizen who does not have an iota of decency, no desire to wait for his or her turn and zero respect for the rights of others.
17 Comments:
I'm scared! my Pakistani passport has expired in January and I need to get it renewed now. I thought it would be a routine process where I would mail it to the Consulate and they will mail it back to me but seems like I would need to be present for the biometrics information.
I think you will need to come yourself. Am not sure if NADRA and other associated organizations have made any arrangements for Pakistanis settled abroad. Will check when I go to collect my passport in a week's time. Will post Part II of the process after the Saddar experience, where I am told, one will have to stand in line again.
You live in Sunnyvale? I took the Caltrain from San Francisco to Sunnyvale and then the bus to Cupertino in 1995 - made my first and only pilgrimage to Apple Computer, as a 21st birthday present. You're a lucky lad to be living in the Valley!!!!
How much is it to renew my passport? Sabeen, you mentioned that the current passport is cancelled - ummm, mine is expired. Do I have to get a new one, or simply renew the old one???? I do have a valid visa on my passport.
Thanks for your help.
How much is it to renew my passport? Sabeen, you mentioned that the current passport is cancelled - ummm, mine is expired. Do I have to get a new one, or simply renew the old one???? I do have a valid visa on my passport.
Thanks for your help.
Hi Rafay. If your passport has expired, you will have to apply for a new Machine Readable Passport. My passport had expired, so they cancelled my old one. If you have a valid visa on your current passport, I imagine you will need to attach it to the new one.
The passport costs Rs. 2,100 and it will take a couple of weeks - if you need it sooner, you can apply for urgent delivery which costs, I think, 4,500. BTW, the Awami Markaz Centre has moved to Saddar - where the old passport office was.
Cheers/Sabeen
Thanks for the info Sabeen.
Oh and another thing. You said that education credentials are needed as well. Why are these needed for passport? Securing a passport is a citizen's right -whether a PhD or 100 percent illiterate. Are you sure?
BTW, could u retain your old passport if it is cancelled??? Or you have to surrender it?
Oh and is it RDIF or RFID??? I think the acronym should be RFID. Not sure though cause I ended up with valid results for both on Google.
I gave my passport for renewal in pak embassy its now more then two months nothing has happened I have so many valid visaes in my passport I am so scared . can sone one please advise me what shall do or give my karachi passport office no ,so that i advise them to move my file .
Rafay: Apologies for taking a century to respond to your last couple of comments. You're right, the acronym is RFID. Will edit the post.
Asking for irrelevant documents gives these power-drunk freaks a weird kick. Education credentials have absolutely no bearing on passport applications, but yaar, how many battles can one fight? It's just easier to take everything you can possibly think of so that they don't make your life miserable.
A colleague of mine went to have his Computerized National ID Card corrected (his name was spelt incorrectly) and before he went, he asked NADRA exactly what papers, if any, they'd require. They said, bring your Matriculation Certificate (huh?) - incidentally, his name on the Certificate was in Urdu and it was the English spelling of his name that was incorrect. Anyway, he dug it out with great difficulty , and got to the NADRA Centre ...
After standing in line for several hours, when he got to the counter, they said, "where's your electricity bill?" AAAAAAARGH!
I got to keep my old passport, after it was cancelled - even though there were no valid visas in it. Dunno if this rule has changed now.
Anonymous: Where are you based? I can give you the name and number of the Assistant Director of Immigration and perhaps you can ask him for advice? I don't have his number on me right now but his name is Khalid Memon. Good Luck!
Hello there, Its a nice forum u ppl are having here, anyway, I am residing in Malaysia, just next to Singapore... across the causeway. I am having my visa expired and am asked to get the passport rewnewd in order to get visa for another year.. I went to HGH COMMISSION once but... the experience was more or less the same as you people get in Pakistan... Now the problem is that I have already gone there once and I am not sure how to take time out of my so bz schedule again and travel about 400 km and go through that uncivilised experience again... I was just searching for a way to get the thing renewed without needing to travel but it seems, ITS A MUST that being a Pakistani your life has to be made miserable... u said officials were efficient in NADRA, let me tell you, I have been trying to call my High Commission since 2 days and getting the recording only, further more these TECHNOLOGY CRAZY PEOPLE dont even have a damned email address for any enquiries although they do have a website;http://www.pahickl.com/index.html
Anyway, wish you ppl all the best... wish me luck.
Now let me share my experience of PAKISTAN EMBASSY IN KUALALUMPUR, Malaysia. Yesterday I went to KL, starting journey at 12:30 midnight and reaching KL at about 5 in the morning. I roamed around from one restaurant to other till the sun came up and then started my way to The High Commission of Pakistan.
I reached there at 8:30 am, It is nice to know that the office of Pakistan High Commission resides in an old British colonial building very near to the Petronas Twin towers, I dont know how they managed to get the property in the prime location of the so called Goldin Triangle. The office oppened at 9:40 am and then we were let in the office, by that time there were quite a number of people awaiting in the line. I was the first to get number for visiting HIS HIGHNESS behind the counter, funny thing is that on the number the time stated 9:02 am. anyway, so HIS HIGHNESS arrived and after going through the papers told me that I have to go and pay the fees for passport now and gave me the account no of a bank and told me it is very nearby. I started my journey and had to walk atleast, 4 km although he said that it is very near by i had to walk around the KL tower reserve and then reached the Affin Bank building. I asked the counter person about the charges I have to pay for an ordinary passport, to which she replied that I have to call my High Commission to confirm. I called the number and after 15 mins was able to talk to HIS HIGHNESS again to which he asked me to hold on a while... and it was forever!!! till line went dead. by chance one of the persons in bank told me the exact amount of 130 RM and even paid the challan for me...MY journey started back, and I reached the HIGHNESS office back at about 10:45 am. Upon arrival I had to take the number again and again wait as HIS HIGHNESS was discussing some very important MATTERS with some long time lost friend on the counter. I was allowed to to talk to HIMSELF again after 15 mins on which he went thorogh the papers again and told me that 2 pictures are ok but the other 2 are not as the background SEEMS to be different, only the problem was that they were developed by 2 different printers... and I was refused the submission again... I again had to find a photo developer shop to get the pictures printed, by chance I had the pendrive in my pocket containg the digital image of the picture. I reached a shop and the shop attended though charging me double gave me the 4 passport size pics in 5 mins and I ran back again... the office hours of HIGH COMMISSION are 9:00-11:30 am by now it was about 11:25 am... I was accepted this time and HIS HIGHNESS AFTER ALL could not find any problem although trying hard.... The task was done but my leg had a bad sprain, in hurry I lost my mobile phone in the taxi.... My Identity card from the university went with it. and mental torture that I went through was also unbearable. That time I decided that.... I came out of my country for the reason of getting higher education on my self finance, resigning from the job of a lecturer in a public university for being treated my my own country's officials like a cow or a goat, should now, give up my Nationality of Pakistan. I took the unhuman treatment everywhere I have been to on the passport and even to get one made i went thorough all the nonsense. Now I have been asked to go back to KL again for the collection after 10 days.... Lets see what else there is in Pandora's box awaiting!!....
Aaaaaagh. What a horror story. All the best with the collection of your passport.
So, here I am again with news from Malaysia.... So i got my PASSPORT after all.... it happened again due to "PARCHI" system as everywhere in Pakistan... My friend, doing PhD in Singapore by chance new one of HIS HIGHNESS office mates as they studied in college togather long long time back... so, he did a favor and asked him to deliver the passport... I paid the courier service charges and ALTHOUGH passport cant be sent via POST anywhere, it was delivered to me VIA POST from the HIGH COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN... I have the evidence of envelope with me that I am to show off for a long time to friends and colleagues... I also recieved invitation to attend a Pakistan food festival and also to be available for oppening ceremony of EXPO in KL where our PRIME MINISTER is arrving...Yesterday by chance I was in KL when the event was taking place. I knew that the thing was happening in Kuala Lumpur just underneath the shadows of Twin towers... but even then, although being asked by my chinese friends to visit.... i could not make myself go and visit there... I was worried and feeling inferior of my image in front of them for the reasons IF... i was treated the same way I have been or IF.... they treat me in some kind of inhuman way, then how will I be able to defend myself?? as we had a chance to have Tun Mahatir Muhammad among us in University just like a normal person without any security and had a chance to visit the prime minister house as it is open to public for visiting... I was not able to take them visit my country's program.... How are we to be PROUD to be PAKISTANIS????
Damn, that sure is one horrible experience you had with Pak Embassy. One would think that the attitudes of these people would be a little different abroad - I was wrong I guess.
I have heard a lot of so called patriotic people repeat what JFK said for the US "Ask now what your country could do for you, ask what you did for your country". I think it's pure BS in Pakistan.
I had the chance and I left Pakistan. I heard stories how you are treated like royalty at Pakistani airports if holding a foreign passport. Sucks. Anyway, I was all patriotic about this 'wonderful' land of ours till I experienced life here for a full 4 years. I am now going back and do not plan to call myself a Pakistani - as much as I feel sorry to say this.
What about confidence building measures between India and Pakistan? Indian Movies are to be shown in Pakistan. But poor Indians who are yearning to visit relatives across the border are finding it difficult getting visas even though they are in their late 70s or 80s . What logic is there in Pakistan not granting visas more generously to elderly persons say once in six months? They are not going to ask for visas for long anyway. I met two old men in Dariya Ganj in Delhi today who were so heart broken telling me that they were denied visas in February by Pakistan High Commission. The old men had been planning to take the bus this month. For some strange reason they are under the impression that old people are allowed visas every six months. I wonder if Pakistan had ever promised any such thing.
They had gone to Pakistan only in August last year. So no luck now.
It is nice reading your exchanges.
Dear all..its a nice forum..want to ask a n imp question..i have a machine readable passport that i made 6 months back, got my nikah done last month..now i need to apply for my wife...wana know wat docs are needed to apply for a brand new passport for the first time for my wife?
your comments are highly appreciated...
Waqar
pleae let me know is passport office open on saturday - smohd228@yahoo.com
Post a Comment
<< Home