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ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis has expressed concern over persistent consular and administrative shortcomings in Pakistani missions across Europe, calling for urgent improvement in welfare facilitation, verification systems and passport-related services.
Meeting under the chairmanship of Syed Rafiullah, the committee reviewed country-wise performance reports of community welfare attaches (CWAs) working under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During deliberations, the members noted recurring operational issues in the Pakistani missions in Italy, Spain and Greece, including passport loss cases, verification delays and limited outreach in prison welfare services.
In Italy, officials reported a large Pakistani community and progress following a 2025 bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU), which included allocation of 3,500 labour slots, of which 1,500 were non-seasonal.
However, the committee was informed that challenges remain regarding pending work visas, repeated passport loss complaints and verification backlogs in some provinces, particularly where online national status verification is not fully integrated.
The Spanish mission briefed the committee on efforts to regularise documentation for Pakistani residents after a prolonged vacancy in the welfare attache position. Authorities said they aim to regularise around 20,000 applicants out of nearly 140,000 Pakistanis residing in Spain.
The committee members highlighted procedural obstacles, especially delays in apostille certification, difficulties in obtaining the National Police Bureau (NPB) verification and recurrent passport losses.
