Pakistan asks dual passport holders to surrender one or face legal action

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

The government of Pakistan has approved an amnesty scheme for people holding two passports and two computerised national identity cards (CNICs), asking them to surrender one passport and CNIC to avoid legal action.

A summary sent by the Interior Ministry to the federal government for the amnesty scheme was approved in the last cabinet meeting, officials said.

The amnesty scheme would remain in force until Dec.31, 2022. Section 6 (1) (j) of the Passports Act reads: "A person shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both, if they obtain more than one passport either in the same or different names by concealing the fact of already being in possession of a passport."

An interior ministry spokesperson said that legal action would be taken against people who did not surrender their illegal identity cards and travelling documents. He said Pakistanis living in Pakistan and abroad could benefit from the scheme. The ministry has also directed the department concerned to publicise the amnesty scheme properly.

Earlier, the federal government had announced six schemes from 2006 to 2016 and as a result over 12,000 passports were cancelled. According to the interior ministry statistics, it would help cancel over 38,000 Pakistani passports.