Pakistan's embassy in Oman resumes passport services after week-long halt

Passport services at the Pakistan Embassy in Muscat, Oman, have resumed following a week-long suspension caused by a technical fault at headquarters in Islamabad, bringing relief to Pakistani expatriates in Oman, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.

Syed Naveed Safdar Bokhari, Pakistan’s ambassador to Oman, said on Wednesday that all passport-related services, including renewals and new issuances, have restarted under a walk-in system.

“Applicants can now visit the embassy to process their passport applications. There are no appointments. It’s a walk-in system. We issue tokens and handle more than 100 applications per day,” the ambassador said.

The services had been suspended since April 29 due to a system failure that affected Pakistani diplomatic missions worldwide, including several in Gulf countries.

The disruption caused difficulties for overseas Pakistanis dealing with travel, visa, and residency requirements, with embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia also impacted.

The embassy has now advised applicants to visit during normal working hours as operations return to standard procedures.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev