The government has introduced an important facility for citizens visiting offices to get passports or related documents. Services will now be available after normal office hours in eight major regional passport offices across the country.
Under the new arrangement, selected regional offices will operate from 8 am to 12 midnight from Monday to Friday. For this purpose, office operations have been divided into two shifts. The first shift will be from 8 am to 4 pm while the second will be from 4 pm to 12 midnight. This system will be implemented from August 20.
The extended hours have been implemented in regional passport offices in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Quetta.
This decision is of particular importance for those citizens who are unable to reach the government office in the morning or afternoon due to work, business or other commitments. The availability of services after evening can provide such individuals with relatively greater convenience in dealing with passport matters.
An important objective of the new policy is also to distribute the pressure of citizens in the offices over different hours. If the required staff and technical facilities are adequately available in the additional shift, it can help reduce waiting times and congestion at the counters.
The basic requirements related to passports include payment of the prescribed fee and provision of relevant documents. The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports provides details of the documents and procedures required for a regular passport on its website.
The extension of working hours by the government comes at a time when the focus is on making the passport service more citizen-friendly. The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports is already providing various facilities, including e-passports.
However, it is important for citizens to note that the fact that the office is open till late at night does not mean that all types of services are available at the same time at all times. It is better to find out in advance the specific procedures, tokens and document requirements of the relevant office.
Overall, the implementation of double shifts in eight major cities has significantly increased the hours of passport service. The real effectiveness of this measure will be revealed when the availability of staff, efficiency of counters and speed of the system are also maintained during the additional hours.
