I STOOD in the immigration line at Jinnah International for 20 minutes and barely moved. Every counter was manned. Then they changed the officer at mine, and I was through in seven. Yes, I counted. The system was not broken. The system was fine.

Last October, Omer and I returned to find chaos at immigration. It was everyone for themselves. The officer who eventually took my passport told me they had changed the system that day and none of them had got the hang of it yet. He looked exhausted.

Two days before I flew out, the interior minister paid a surprise visit to this airport. He inspected the counters and asked passengers about their experience. While he was standing there, the immigration system went down. Mohsin Naqvi picked up the phone, called the relevant authorities and had it fixed. He then issued instructions that immigration should not stop under any circumstances, and that a backup should be in place for when the system fails.

In April 2025, the Pakistan Airports Authority signed an agreement with a foreign consultancy to plan, design and install e-gates at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. A year later, the interior minister........

© Dawn