Feb 12 Though a decision to open a passport office in Shimla was taken by the external affairs ministry three years ago, there is still no sign of the promised office here.

More and more travellers, particularly students, headed abroad have to go to Chandigarh, which is the nearest full-fledged passport office. Currently, only passport applications are accepted at Shimla s single-room office.

The rest of the formalities, including follow up, are carried out at the Chandigarh office, causing inconvenience and delays to the foreign-bound. "A passport office would convenience people from all over the state," said Rajeev Sharma, a college student who plans to study abroad.

Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, who hails from Shimla, had a year ago promised that the new office would open in the railway board building in downtown Shimla. However, there is still no sign of the premises being vacated by previous occupants to make way for Himachal Pradesh s first full-fledged passport office.

"We are ready to open the new passport office here and have again requested the state government to vacate the premises in the railway board building," said R. S. Verma, the passport liaison officer.