IEA printing passports in Lithuania to resolve shortage problem

The General Directorate of Passports of the Interior Ministry of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said Wednesday that efforts are being made to address the shortage of passport booklets in Afghanistan and that tens of thousands of passports will be available in the next few days.

The directorate said on Wednesday that three million passport booklets have been printed in Lithuania and will be delivered to Kabul within two weeks.

According to officials this is being done in cooperation with the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Shafiullah Tasal, media secretary for the General Directorate of Passports, told VOA that a Lithuanian company printed the passports and that the IEA government has paid the company.

According to Tasal discussions were currently underway regarding delivery.

The IEA has been only issuing ten-year passports for the past month to Afghans over the age of 15.

Children and teenagers under the age of 15 are issued with five-year passports.

The IEA charges more than 5,000 Afghanis for a five-year passport and 10,000 Afghanis for a ten-year passport.

For several weeks now, the distribution of passports across Afghanistan has stopped, and the IEA has only distributed them in Kabul.

However the General Directorate of Passports said once the new shipment of passports arrives, distribution will resume in all provinces.

Two days ago, the department said that a number of people had recently printed fake passport booklets in “neighboring countries” and illegally distributed them to the public in exchange for money.

According to the department, some of these “profiteers” have been detained by IEA intelligence officials and are being investigated.