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Close to 46000 people will need to give up their passports and get them exchanged for new ones because the government has called back the passports bearing serial numbers Z-000001 to Z-045925. Most of these passports are issued in Dubai. These Z-series passport holders are to get their passports replaced by submitting fresh applications. The Indian consulate in Dubai said, on Saturday that the passports which have the serial numbers Z-000001 to Z-045925 are to be recalled and new passports are to be issued in their place. It further added that some passports of the Z-series have been issued between February and September 2007.
Back in November 2007, E Ahamed, the Minister of State for External Affairs had said, in the Lok Sabha that the Indian Security Press had issued a repeat of passports of an earlier series, unknowingly. These passports were from Z-000001 to Z-056000. The passport holders with these numbers were facing problems at the immigration counters because of this duplication of their booklets. Some sources at the Ministry of External Affairs' passport and visa division said that these passports were been recalled from all over the world and not just from Dubai. The immigration officers at Chennai International Airport have been specifically asked to keep an eye on the passports of those people who are arriving from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sarah.
The consulate has also opened up a counter to deal with this problem. The counter is open from 8am to 11am every working day, where it deals with the cases which involve the Z-series of passports. According to a statement issued, the passport holders will not be charged anything for this change. Even the delivery of the new passport at the residence of the applicant will be made free of charge. These new passports will be issued in a very short span of time, five days or earlier.
Meanwhile, people from Tamil Nadu who make up about 20% of UAE's population are worried as they may face problems while traveling. Dubai's population has seen a steady growth from 1.13 million in 2005 to 1.42 million in 2006 with Indians adding substantially to the growth.
