Passport & Pakistani consulate
I APPLIED for a new passport at the Pakistani consulate in Toronto, Canada. I was informed an urgent passport is delivered within 20 days at an extra charge.
I paid for one and now after 22 days of waiting, I am shocked to learn that the consulate takes no responsibility for delivering the urgent passport within the 20 days that it commits to do.
These are just false commitments made by the Pakistani consulate. It has no control over the preparation of new passports. The extra charge for an urgent passport is outright malpractice, considering the commitment is not honoured.
My flight is booked for Feb 6 and I cannot apply for a visa for Dubai without my passport.
What am I supposed to do? What if I miss my flight because of the delay in receiving my passport? Is the consulate answerable to anyone?
RAFIA NAEEM
Canada
Honestly, you shouldn’t have waited till the last minute. I personally have had a very pleasant experience with the Pakistani consulate here in New York when I went to renew my passport (get a MRP version). The people there were very nice and it hardly took any time.
Our Embassies are true “Ambassadors” of our country. What do you expect???
Please be a little considerate of all the problems in the country, on top of which it was 12 Rabi-ul-Awal where the entire country comes to a halt to celebrate the birthday of a dead arbi dude. Please be patient, your passport will arrive soon.
I have been living in UK for over 20 years and needed 4 passports for myself and 3 for my wife. Two of my children had Pakistani passport for 7 and 9 years. Later they got NADRA card so did my wife. I still travel to Pakistan on my green passport. I had no less than 20 contacts with Pakistani consulate in Bradford and never had any problem. People who were disruptive and abusive were almost always British passport holders. I may be plain LUCKY or may find a fault in my application or manners as that luck deserts me as soon as I leave the consulate building. I have only praise for the hard working ladies and gentlemen working in Pakistani consulates all over the world.
Dear reader, i dont want to scare u but i am in Saudi arabia and its about 2 months, yet to receive my passport, best of luck to all of us.
Every one has different experience. I did not have any problem in getting my passport renewed or new issued by the Consulate of Pakistan in Toronto. It was given to me within the prescribed time. But that was way back in 2004. How is it now I do not know. Let us see how my experience proves to be in 2014 when next renewal is due.
But I know from my short visit to Saudi Arabia in 2009. I got my new passport (machine readable passport) within a very short time of applying under normal process and that without any torture and problem.
Rafia Naeem must have definitely faced the problem he/she describes.That is why she has written about it.
I will like to share my experience with passport and with the Pakistani consulate in New York. A few weeks ago, I had to renew my son’s passport. I requested an urgent renewal. I was told that despite the urgent passport’s standard of 5 business days, it could take longer, may be up to 2 weeks or longer. This warning is posted on the consulate’s web site as well. I was able to track my passport’s arrival in New York on embassy’s web site, within two weeks. May I add that knew no one in the embassy, and that I am not a spokesperson. It is indeed true that the new machine readable passports are printed in Pakistan.
LOL. Oh bibi, you are just a common Pakistani – you will receive a passport when the government feels like it. I have some friends who have solid connections in their local embassy and they receive their passports at home. You as a common Pakistani will have to wait. AH JEAY SADDA VIP CULTURE!
You will receive a passport within 20 days if you vote for Imran Khan in the upcoming elections. Otherwise, continue to enjoy the hospitality of Pakistani consulates around the world.
In India we are having a online mechanism of tracking the passport. Applications are entered in an ONLINE software and hence the pend ency can be tracked anytime by the superiors. This way the babus get to do their work automatically. The files can be easily tracked to them and excuses cannot be given.
The Indian Consulate in UAE has Outsourced the Passport activity to reputed companies who do the ground work and consulate has to do the basic checks only thereby speeding up the work tremendously. The Applications submitted through these agencies also can be tracked ONLINE and status known immediately through their websites.
The consulates should start investing in this ASAP.
Why did you wait for the last minute to apply? This should be a lesson for you.
To kya 10 saal pehle renew karva lu? kya ahmed… tu bhi na.
Dude why you want to come back to Pakistan. They are running the consulate just like they are running the country. Take my advice, it is a doggy doggy world out in here. I was robbed on gun point while coming from air port and on the top of it the police refused to cut an FIR…….lost every thing including my passport.
As living in Canada you might think this is a very big big problem , As a Pakistani living in Pakistan I m use to all these broken commitment and promises my advice is calm down and reschedule your plans once you got your passport in your hand which might take three months plan again.
Lady, you are expecting best of both worlds. You have opted to leave Pakistan and settle in Canada leaving all the problems behind. Please take your concerns to Canadian media and cry over there. People in Pakistan have no interest or concern what Canadian Consulate is doing in Toronto neither are we interested when and how will you get your visa for shopping in Dubai.
Please check contribution of foreign funds by Pakistanis living abroad. Pls be thankful.
Aaaahhh !!! This is so common… I do not understand what strikes our Pakistani people. Once they are working for the government they forget all the ethics. They don’t bother about the problems of overseas Pakistanis. Neither at home nor abroad
the people working at the consulate are the same corrupt lots working in pakistan, transfered to foreign land on heavy bribe, so how could one expect efficient job – employ local people from canada, as is done by all other foreign missions.
It’s the sorry state of affairs where our consulates are not serving overseas Pakistani in right manner. It seems that these government officials keep thinking that they are sitting in Pakistan and not in Canada(even they are in Canada). It’s sad and no one seems to take a notice of that. There attitude In pure simple english ” Who cares”.
Seriously dude! You are complaining about it!
What made you believe that they will honor their commitment? This duck was dead on arrival!
The simple answer is no. This is an extension of the Pakistani government and much like the government itself, is self serving and answerable to no one. Accountability and responsibility is alien to Pakistani institutions. Any question as to whether something can be done will be met with the response “Inshallah” – which really means that everything is left to god because they certainly will not be getting of their ample backsides to help you.
good one… Inshallah ! ek na ek din aap passport haansil karoge.
Justice demands that if passport is not delivered within time then in that case the extra charges collected should / must be refunded. Yes, this is what called justice. But can we expect such good manners and practice from our people ?
I live in the USA. I once wanted to renew my passport ,and visited the consulate in Chicago.
I was informed that a regular passport would take one month,as it is sent to Islamabad for verification and they did not make passports there in the consulate.
I then inquired how long will it take to get it urgently. I was informed two weeks.
Since i did not want to wait that long I practically begged them and offered to pay double fee. No one wanted to hear anything.
Dejected ,i left. In the lift going down ,I met a friend. After i told him about my ordeal, he told me that he knew the guy upstairs and he will help me. We both went upstairs . Apparently my friend knew the guy very well. As soon as he met him and asked him to do me this favor, he accepted my papers. Took my old passport , went behind in this small room, and came out with my brand new passport within 25 min.
So much for sending the paperwork to Pakistan and so much for the delays
What a country?
I am sorry but you and your friend are part of the problem. The process itself shoud be criticised and held accountable for not delivering and people like yourself should be ashamed of using “contacts” to get the job done as this is just another form of corruption and people like you and your friend feed the system. It is because of actions like this that there is no concept of the rule of law because there is always someone who has “approach” to subvert the system.
nice cooked up story..
regular passports take 14 days whereas urgent is 2-3 days………nd there is no such thing as paperwork going to pakistan wen ur applying for a passport onli if ur passport has been lost we send the paperwork to pakistan for verification. I hope this cleared the confusion
What? unbelievable! And I had such a great experience at Chicago Consulate. I send my son’s passport for visa to Pakistan, followed all instructions to the letter, sent an express mail pre-paid envelope for fast return and I received the passport back with the visa in 48 hours. Things work just right sometimes.
Most Pakistani consulates around the world are officers deployed on holidays. Efficiency and service delivery are unknown concepts to them. The biggest Pakistani consulate in the world is in Jeddah. No less than 50 people stand every day in scorching heat in the afternoon hours to get their things done. I have not seen it to be much different in other countries either. Other consulates and embassies are far more welcoming, organized, and disciplined. But there you are!
Hahahahahah, Enjoy, They are not answerable to anyone
No, the consulate is not answerable to anyone. Shift your flight to avoid loosing money.
When somebody tells you that an urgent activity will take 20 days, they are lying to you. You should have raised the question at the time they said it. Looks like you’ve been had.
Siddique Malik, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
sorry to say but this is reality Pakistani consulate has no time for official work when PAKISTANI consulate posted in foreign country they are busy in adjusting their families and busy how to settle their business because i was meat him personally one of Pakistani consulate . ABUBAKER RAWALPINDI
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:07:00 +0000 To: caprio1926@hotmail.com
I am leaving in Toronto since 1986, I do not recall any bad experiance, on the contrary , The consulate was very co-opertaive when there was robbery-murder in my brother family in Karachi 5 members were brutally murdered . They went out of their way (most member of the consulate) to ensure my family (shattered with the news )were able to make it to Karachi on time. I do not wish any one to go through this crisis in life. The entire consulate office showed utmost symthapy and moral support and I have no word to express my thanks , only pray for them