KABUL (SW) – The General Directorate of Passports at the Ministry of Interior has announced that starting this Wednesday, in-person applications for passports will be resumed in the capital due to the insufficient capacity to handle a high volume of online applications.
Nurullah Patman, the spokesperson for the General Directorate of Passports, says: “The process of pre-applications starts offline so that citizens can easily come and stand in the queue, and after collecting their petitions, we give them a token, and we determine the date for them to come on that day. We will issue the order for the form and collect the tariff from them, and after going through the procedures of payment and other matters, they will refer to the passport department.”
Some residents of Kabul city have has welcomed the passport department’s decision, highlighting the challenges faced by individuals in the online application process. Some reported extended waiting times of up to a year to obtain their passports through online channels.
Mohammad Qasim, a resident of Kabul, says: “I had registered online, and it has been six months or more that I have not been sent a specific date, and now that the process has been decided to be offline, it is hoped that the implementation of this process would solve problems.”
“Starting the in-person process to contribute passport is effective. When the process has been online, the problems increased. I have this problem; I registered a few months ago, but still haven’t managed to get my passport,” Said Rahim Azizi, another resident of Kabul.
Previously, the in-person passport application process was limited to specific groups, including students, individuals with disabilities, patients, and those with a critical need for a passport.
