Passports to cost dearly

The Immigration and Emigration Department announced yesterday that it has increased passport issuance fees for two categories, effective from today. 

As per the new revision, normal and online passport issuance prices have increased from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000. 

The fee adjustment follows a previous increase on 17 November 2022, where 10 different passport-related fees experienced an upward revision.

In 2023, the Immigration and Emigration Department issued a total of 849,829 passports, slightly below the all-time high of 911,757 passports issued in 2022. Despite the levy hike, the Immigration and Emigration Department officials said no deceleration was seen in applications received.