Miscellaneous
DoP launching new services from Sunday
The Department of Passport (DoP) has further simplified the passport distribution process, making it possible for service seekers to obtain the document within a day after paying Rs 15,000.The Department of Passport (DoP) has further simplified the passport distribution process, making it possible for service seekers to obtain the document within a day after paying Rs 15,000.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa is all set to inaugurate the new process at the DoP on Sunday. The new service will come into effect from the very day.
On Sunday, DPM Thapa will also begin the pre-enrollment service. Through pre-enrollment service, service seekers can apply and make payment for passports online.
According to Lok Bahadur Thapa, director general of the DoP, the Cabinet has already given a nod for introducing the new system and the decision to this effect has already been published in the Nepal Gazette. “Those who pay Rs 15,000 will get passports within a day,” said Thapa. “To acquire the passport in two days, one will have to pay Rs 12,000 and at Rs 10,000, applicants will be handed over the passport in three days instead of current provision of five days.” “We have been working in the spirit of making passport services easier and smooth and this new system is part of this our continuous endeavour,” added Thapa.
Those applying for passports from districts currently need to pay Rs 5,000 and they get the documents in 15 days. Those applying from Nepali missions abroad have to pay extra amount as delivery charges.
Ram Prasad Subedi, director of the DoP, said the new service is being launched with an aim to make passport distribution service, fast, smooth and effective.
For pre-enrolment service, applicants can directly long on to the DoP’s official website (www.nepalpassport.gov.np) and fill their personal details as per the instructions and submit it online. They will receive a bar code and number upon submission of the form, and the passport process begins when they reach the department with the number.
The automated information (bar code) will then advise the applicant the time and place (DoP or nearby passport offices) to submit the required fee, photographs and signature as per the standard set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
We have successfully completed the test run, said the DoP chief, adding that the service will be gradually expanded across the country.
The department has already introduced the live enrolment centres at the DoP and some Nepali missions abroad to provide efficient and hassle-free service to the applicants.
The DoP has issued more than 4.5 million machine readable passports (MRP) since its introduction in December 2010. “On an average, we are printing 3,500 passports every day,” said Thapa, adding that the department had been printing more than 6,000 copies of passport daily until November last year.