KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said it has made special arrangements to issue handwritten passports for those willing to collect them before the April 1, 2010 deadline for the issuance of the existing non-machine readable passports.
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had already set the deadline to phase out handwritten passports and replace them with Machine Readable Passports (MRPs). Nepal is a member of ICAO, a UN agency and is required to introduce the MRPs by the given deadline.
Though there is no doubt that Nepal is going to miss the deadline, it has formally requested the ICAO to extend the deadline and validate non-machine readable passports for another six months.
In a press statement, the MoFA appealed to all those wishing to collect the handwritten passports before April 1 to contact the special desks of the Ministry located in the premises of Narayanhiti Museum.
"The collection of application forms and issuance of handwritten passports will take place on March 17 (Saturday) from 10 am to 5 pm and March 28 to 31 from 8 am to 8 pm," the statement reads.
The government cannot issue the handwritten passports after March 31 and the existing non-machine readable paperwork will be effective till November 24, 2015. The government is expected to start issuing the much-hyped MRPs beginning first week of June, 2010 thanks to a deal the government inked with India.
Nasik-based Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India entrusted with the responsibility of printingand supplying the MRPs to Nepal. As per the deal, Nepal will procure four million MRPs, the current size of handwritten passport holders within three years.
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