The process of documenting new passport applicants will stop today

The Taliban Passport Authority has instructed the provincial passport administrations to stop the process of processing new applicants from Sunday.

Maulvi Abdul Hakim Hamdi, the newly appointed head of the Taliban Passport Authority, in a letter to the provinces passport administrations, ordered that the process of issuing and processing new applicants be suspended from Sunday.

The letter states that only the documents of the passport applicants that have already been stored in the directorates and if their bank pendants are until the, should send it to the center as soon as possible by the current Thursday of the week.

The letter argues that since the resumption of the Provincial Passport Authority, most passport administrations have processed applicants’ documents in violation of the quota set, or that documents have been condensed at these directorates.

According to the letter, no documents of the applicants should remain in the provincial passport directorates until the mentioned date.

Unemployment and poverty have also risen in the country since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, which has increased the demand for passports.