KATHMANDU: The Department of Passports has been witnessing heavy crowds even on public holidays as thousands of people seek e-passports to apply for South Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS).
The department has extended services on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm to manage the increased pressure. Many applicants complained that they were not receiving passports on time despite applying through the fast-track service. Tilak Bahadur Gharti Magar, who came to Kathmandu from Rolpa for the EPS process, said he had been waiting for more than a week and feared missing the application deadline.
The department admitted that the sudden surge in demand linked to EPS applications and the stabilization of a new system had caused delays. Director Deepak Banjade said there was no shortage of passport booklets, but technical glitches had affected timely distribution for some applicants.
According to him, urgent passports are supposed to be issued within 48 working hours, though files with technical issues may take an additional working day. Banjade also said some SMS notifications had failed earlier because of payment-related issues with the service provider, but the problem has now been resolved. Delays in coordination with the National ID system had also affected some applications, and NID staff have been deployed at the department to address the issue.
The department is currently printing and distributing around 1,500 passports daily. To handle the EPS rush, applications and distribution are being operated in two shifts from Shrawan 14 to 22, with services running from 7 am to 9 pm on working days and 10 am to 4 pm on public holidays.
