Onlinr Khabar
Barcelona, November 26. The handwritten passports are no longer valid, but many Nepalis living abroad have not bothered to get machine-readable passports in place of the handwritten ones.

This came to light when a team from the Nepali Embassy in Paris, which had arrived in Barcelona to assess the situation, found around 50 people filling up MRP forms.

This scenario suggests that across Spain, a good number of Nepalis have not bothered to acquire smart passports.

An applicant said: There’s no hurry to return home (Nepal), so why acquire MRP right now? I have not made MRP, though I know manual passports have become invalid from November 24.

But Bishwo Bandhu Thapa, who hails from Syangja and is currently based in Barcelona, said he is not facing any problem because he got the MRP on time. Regmi said: The Non-Resident Nepalis Association has opened an office in Barcelona to enable Nepalis to fill up MRP forms. Nepali Embassy officials attest these forms here itself. This has made things easier for us.” Under the aegis of NRNA National Coordination Council Spain, a team from the Paris-based Nepali Embassy has distributed MRPs and collected MRP forms.

Dhanik Lal Mahato of the embassy, Dhanik Lal Mahato, said they are getting applicants for MRPs, though handwritten passports became invalid recently.
If the photos meet specifications, if the MRP forms are duly filled and if embassy’s notices are read seriously, there are high chances of getting MRPs on time, he said.

President of NRNA (Spain) Mukta Bahadur Gurung thanked the Paris Embassy (the Nepali Embassy in Paris) and Nepali organizations based in Spain for their cooperation. He appealed all concerned to fill up MRP forms as manual passports are no longer valid.