Senate panel backs bill to give blue passports to former parliamentarians

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Friday approved a private member’s bill that would extend official blue passports to former parliamentarians and certain members of their families.

The proposed law, titled the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) Amendment Act, 2026, was moved by Senator Abdul Qadir. Under the measure, former lawmakers would become eligible for free blue passports, which are official travel documents issued to specified state officeholders and officials.

The bill also proposes the same facility for spouses of former parliamentarians. In addition, dependent children of former lawmakers aged under 28 would qualify for the official travel document without charge.

According to the proposed amendments, retired federal secretaries and their families already receive the same benefit. The legislation seeks to place former parliamentarians at par with retired federal secretaries in respect of entitlement to blue passports.

Existing categories for official passports

According to the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports’ website, official passports are issued to Pakistani nationals who are senators, members of the National Assembly, provincial ministers, judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, and government officers travelling abroad on official assignments, among others.

The committee’s latest decision follows a similar development in May, when it unanimously approved another bill aimed at granting blue passports to serving and retired senators. It also took up separate legislation proposing that senators should continue to receive the facility for life.

Ministry reservations discussed earlier

During that earlier meeting, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told the committee that the ministry had no objection to providing lifetime official passports to serving and retired senators. However, he raised concerns over extending the benefit to dependent children up to the age of 28, citing reported misuse.

The committee, chaired by Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman, had also expressed concern over the issuance of blue passports to adult children of senior civil servants and directed the interior ministry to provide a detailed list of active blue passports.

Lawmakers also emphasised the need for strict action in cases involving misuse of official passports before unanimously approving the bill relating to blue passports for serving and retired senators.