Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Pakistan’s overseas labour force no longer needs to apply for the mandatory National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP), the government of Pakistan has announced. In addition to that, the government has also reduced the fees for biometric verification charges for labourers going abroad.
The Ministry decided to do away with this requirement because it was “an unnecessary added expense for the poor”.
In a statement online, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development said, “NICOP has only been abolished for the Pakistani labour that goes abroad. Having a Pakistani passport and work permit is enough. The NICOP is an unnecessary added expense for the poor so we have abolished it for them.”
Moreover, the government has also reduced biometric verification charges for the labourers going abroad.
“Both the decisions were taken during a meeting chaired by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan in the wake of a briefing given to him by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development,” said the official.
The government decided to undertake a couple of new initiatives to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.
The Prime Minister announced that the government would soon unveil a special incentives package aimed at encouraging overseas Pakistanis to transfer remittances through banking channels.
