A person who wishes to go to Pakistan can apply for a variety of visas that come under the Pakistan visa types. This means that you can easily apply for one that you need based on the conditions that have been set along with your visits. It is the Ministry of Interior that handles all of the visa grants or extensions for the foreigners. Tourist visa online will help you understand how each type of Pakistan visa can be applied for and what purpose do each visa type fulfill. With this let’s take a look at all of the visa types that Pakistan has to offer for its foreigners who will be visiting soon!
1. Pakistan diplomatic visa:
This visa is supplied to those foreigners who are working as diplomats or as domestic servants of diplomats. This visa is usually given free of charge based on the principle of reciprocity. There can be an extension made after the visa has come to expiry but this needs to be applied for well and further in advance. This extension is done through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This visa can also be issued to those foreigners working under the UN agencies. Even though this visa is granted by the Ministry of Interior, there has to be a recommendation from the ministry of foreign affairs.
2. Pakistan student visa:
A foreigner who wishes to pursue an education in Pakistan can get this visa which is issued to them by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of education. This visa is only issued to the student when the student produces the NOC given by either the Ministry of Education or the Economics Affairs Division or the Ministry of Health and the foreign Mission in Pakistan from the respective country. This visa is granted for those students who have cleared the security-related matters for an entry permit. This visa will allow the students to enter on a single entry basis and will allow three months of stay in Pakistan.
3. Pakistan journalist visa:
This type of visa can be given to a journalist on two bases and can be given as follows:
- Based in Pakistan: This visa will allow the journalists to stay in Pakistan after they have been issued the visa by Pakistan missions abroad. This can be done without contacting the Ministry of Interior or the ministry of information and broadcasting. This visa will also allow journalists to stay until the assignment ends. This visa, however, cannot be issued to an Indian journalist.
- No-based: This visa will give the journalist a total stay of three months with multiple entry permissions. And can be used for Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi after the verification of the credentials of the journalist is done. This visa only allows one month of short visits with an extension of the visa and two more re-entries. If there are any other additional places that a journalist wishes to visit then he or she can get the requests placed through the ministry of information and media development.
4. Pakistan NGO visa:
Those foreigners who work for non-governmental organizations can get this visa issued for them. This visa is a short term one and hence if a person working with NGO requires a long term visa, they will have to ensure that the NGO has been registered with the Government of Pakistan. There must be a clearance made by the ministry of the interior before the visas are granted. In case of extension, this can be applied for directly by the NGO to the Ministry of Interior if all the conditions are met.
5. Pakistan work visa:
Those Pakistan missions located in abroad can get the visa granted to the foreigner by getting a recommendation through the board of investment. This visa will be a one year multiple entry visa. The board of investment will be the one that processes the visa and further gives it to the Ministry of Interior to authorize the visa. This visa can also be extended on a yearly basis. This visa is normally recommended to the board of investment for the fresh entry cases and for those who want an extension, recommendations are done to the regional passport offices. An extension of three months is allowed.
6. Afghan visa:
All the Afghan nationals who hold an afghan passport and are residing in Pakistan can get the visa which is worth of six months’ validity. This visa will only be given if the person is applying for the visa from Afghanistan itself. If the applicant is in a third country then an initial visa worth of 45 days will be provided which can be further extended for 45 days.
7. Pakistan pilgrimage visa:
Other than the Indian passport holders, the foreign nationals can enter Pakistan on a pilgrimage visa and can go to the following places:
- Lahore
- Sheikhupura (Nankana Sahib)
- Rawalpindi or Hasan Abdal (Punja Sahib)
8. Pakistan missionary work visa:
This visa is provided to the Christian missionaries who come from abroad to get their missionary work done. This visa is processed by the Ministry of Interior. This visa encourages the new missionaries and those existing to carry out their missions in Pakistan. The visa is authorized by the Ministry of Interior after the clearance from the Provincial government has been sent. This visa allows the foreigner to stay for about one year with a single re-entry being issued. The extension of the visa can be applied but this must be applied for well in advance through the regional passport office.
9. Pakistan housemaid visa:
Those Pakistani households wishing to hire a housemaid can get this visa issued for her or him. This visa will be provided by the missions abroad with prior agreement from the Ministry of Interior. Application for new housemaids can be done with the help of all required documents.
10. Pakistan visa for third country foreigner:
This visa is issued to a foreigner who is applying for a visa form a third country. This visa is authorized by either the ambassador or high commissioner or the head of mission or the consulate only.
11. Pakistan visit visa for foreigners of Pakistan origin:
This visa allows a one-year multiple entries or stays that will be valid until the passport expires to the foreigners. A regional passport office can issue the visa to foreigners who will allow one year extension of the visa with multiple entries or it can also give a five-year extension visa without entries. This will be decided based on passport validity. A period of overstay is also allowed for the foreigner provided that he or she stays for only up to six months in Pakistan. A landing permit can also be issued in cases of emergency which will be valid for 72 hours. And this permit is provided by the airport immigration staff. This visa is only available for families of Pak origin.
12. Pakistan business visa:
The selected number of countries can get a business visa to Pakistan. This visa will be a five-year multiple entry visa that has been issued to the foreigner. The duration of each stay will only be allowed for up to three months. This can, however, be made available by 68 countries the remaining 107 countries except for Israel will get the visa with only one-month validity with multiple entries. The conversion of a business visa to a work visa will also not be allowed anymore.
13. Pakistan business visa on arrival:
The 68 countries that are eligible can get a visa on arrival which has 30 days of validity. This visa will be issued provided all the documents are made available.
14. Pakistan tourist visa:
A tourist visa can be applied by the foreigner to go to Pakistan. This visa will have three months’ validity and only 188 countries can avail of this visa. There can be an extension in the visa made by the regional passport offices. However, this extension will be allowed for only six months after which an overstay of 15 days is allowed. But after this period there will be an application of fines on overstay.
15. Pakistan group tourist travels:
This visa on arrival allows a group of tourists to travel around Pakistan. This group must be coming from a tourist-friendly country and must also be taken in the country only through designated tour operators in Pakistan.
FAQs:
Q. Can a tourist from India travel to Pakistan?
No, a tourist from India will not be allowed to travel to Pakistan, as an Indian citizen cannot avail of a Pakistan tourist visa.
Q. Is a business visa convertible to a work visa in Pakistan?
No, a business visa cannot be converted to a work visa in Pakistan even though this was allowed initially.
Q. Can there be an extension in visa when group travel is made?
Yes, a designated tour operator can ask for 30 days of visa extension in Pakistan for group travels.
This concludes the Pakistan visa types and its description of how these visas work!
