Pakistani passport renewal in the United States

A Pakistani passport issued in the United States comes out of one system and one system only: the Machine Readable Passport, printed in Islamabad. There is no express counter that hands you a book the same afternoon, and there is no consulate that prints its own. What varies is how long you wait and how much you pay.

The single fact that decides your trip: a new passport requires you in the room. Your photograph, your signature and your fingerprints are captured at the counter, which is why the consulates ask for no application form and no photograph in advance. Only a renewal can be done from home.

Renewing online, and who can actually do it

Pakistan runs an online renewal service at onlinemrp.dgip.gov.pk. It is genuinely a renewal service and nothing more. If you have never held a Machine Readable Passport, if your details have changed, or if the passport was lost, the online route closes and you are back to the counter.

For anyone in Anchorage, Honolulu, Fargo or Miami, whose consulate is a flight rather than a drive, this is the difference between a form and a two-day journey. It is worth checking your eligibility before you book anything else.

Without a valid NADRA card there is no passport

This is the wall most applications hit. The passport system pulls your data straight from NADRA, so it will not process an application for someone whose identity record is out of date or expired. In practice you need an original, current CNIC or NICOP in your hand.

There is one exemption, and it is narrow: applicants aged 64 and over may apply with an expired NADRA identity document. Everybody else renews the card first and the passport second. If your NICOP has lapsed, start there.

The other condition is residence. You apply at the consulate whose jurisdiction covers where you live, not the one that has the shortest queue.

What it costs

These are the fees published by the Consulate General in Los Angeles, in US dollars. Other offices may differ, so confirm with the one handling your case before you buy the money order.

New passport, renewal or modification. Five years: 70 ordinary, 150 urgent. Ten years: 98 ordinary, 225 urgent.
First lost passport. Five years: 140 ordinary, 300 urgent. Ten years: 196 ordinary, 450 urgent.
Second lost passport. Five years: 280 ordinary, 600 urgent. Ten years: 392 ordinary, 900 urgent.

Losing a passport twice costs nine times what a first ten-year book costs. That is deliberate.

Pay the right way or the file stops. Consulate fees go by money order or cashier's check made out to the consulate. Personal checks are refused and so is cash. Nothing is refundable once deposited, including on an application that is later rejected.

How long it takes

Ordinary processing runs about four weeks and urgent about two, counted from the booking date rather than from the day you walked in. For a lost passport the clock does not start until the issuing authority confirms the loss, which can add time nobody can predict.

Validity, and the rule for children

Passports are issued for five or ten years, and the choice is yours at any age with one exception: children under 15 receive a five-year book only. The ten-year option is not available to them at any price.

Before you go

Three things worth confirming the day before, because each of them sends people home empty-handed:

That your NADRA card is current, or that you are 64 or over.
That the money order is made out correctly and for the exact amount.
That your fingers are clean and unmarked. Smudged prints are captured on the spot and a failed capture means another appointment.