The interior minister Sheikh Rasheed has on Tuesday announced that the government has cut the fee for a ten-year validity passport by 50 per cent.

Addressing a press conference, Sheikh Rasheed asked people to apply for passports that are valid for up to ten years in order to reduce the burden on passport office.

The minister said the network of NADRA offices will be expanded at tehsil headquarters level and the NADRA will issue 100,000 identity cards in a day.

About former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s passport expiring tonight, Sheikh Rasheed said the names of both the PML-N supremo and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have been on the ECL since August 2018.

He said the passports cannot be issued to those on the ECL. He, however, said Nawaz Sharif is not being stopped from returning to Pakistan. He said if Nawaz Sharif desires so, he will be issued the emergency travel documents.