ISLAMABAD: The government has approved an amnesty scheme for Pakistani citizens holding more than one Pakistani passport.
Summary sent by the Interior Ministry to the federal cabinet for amnesty scheme was approved in the last cabinet meeting, said a statement issued here Friday. The amnesty scheme would be applied to all Pakistani citizens who possessed more identity or passports than one.
Under the federal government decision, the amnesty scheme would remain in force till December 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 he: obtains more than one passport for himself either in the same or different names by concealing the fact of his already being in possession of a passport.”
The scheme was approved keeping in view the common interest of local nationals and overseas Pakistanis. Earlier, the federal government had announced such six schemes during 2006 to 2016 and as a result over 12,000 multiple passports had been cancelled.
As per the interior ministry statistics, it would be help cancellation of over 38,000 multiple Pakistani passports. It was also decided to advertise the scheme abroad to make it more effective.