🇵🇰Pakistan

The visa

• Every visa application goes through the Pakistan Online Visa System at visa.nadra.gov.pk. That has been the rule since 1 January 2021, and the government's own page warns that no other website has any connection to it.
• The system is open to citizens of 192 countries. GCC nationals need no visa for these categories.
• The tourist entry visa is single entry, for up to 3 months.
• Three documents: a photograph, the passport, and a hotel booking. If you are applying from a third country rather than your own, proof of legal residence there is mandatory.
• Processing is 7 to 10 working days. Allow more, because if the application is sent back for review the clock restarts from your resubmission, and an application not resubmitted within 7 days is cancelled outright.
• The passport must be valid at least 6 months after the date of the visa application, which is an earlier date than most countries count from.

The entry stamp is the thing people forget

• Make sure your passport is stamped on entry. This sounds like housekeeping. It is not.
• Leaving Pakistan is difficult without an entry stamp. If it did not happen, the FCDO says contact the Ministry of Interior or go to a NADRA office, and it is far easier to fix on day one than at the departure gate.
• The stamp is also asked for elsewhere. Zong, for one, records the FIA entry stamp when it sells a foreigner a SIM.
• To leave, you need an unexpired visa, a Pakistani identity card or a Pakistani passport. If the visa has expired, apply online for an exit permit from inside the country before you go to the airport.

The disembarkation card

• All foreigners can now file the disembarkation card through the PakID mobile app, which is the government's own announcement on the visa portal.

Vaccination and customs

• A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a transmission risk country, and a polio certificate in some circumstances.
• Importing alcohol or pork products is illegal and you can be detained for trying.

If you have Pakistani family

• NICOP or SNICOP holders enter without a visa and can stay indefinitely.
• If you or your parents were born in Pakistan you may be treated as a Pakistani national whatever passport you hold, and the FCDO will not normally intervene between you and the Pakistani authorities.

The ambulance

• Dial 1122 and ask for an ambulance. Response times vary a great deal, and in remote or mountainous areas can be over an hour because of road access and vehicle availability.
• Call your insurer as soon as you are referred anywhere.

Polio

• Pakistan is running a widespread polio vaccination programme and you may be asked to show proof of vaccination by a vaccination team, not only at the border.
• A medical exemption has to be a certificate from a recognised health authority.
• A polio certificate is a condition of entry in some circumstances, alongside yellow fever if you are arriving from a transmission risk country.

Air

• Air pollution is a health hazard from October to February, worst in Punjab and specifically in Lahore. If you have asthma or a heart condition, that is a season to plan around rather than a nuisance.

Altitude and water

• Altitude sickness is a risk in Gilgit-Baltistan and anywhere else you go high quickly.
• Take care buying bottled water, and stick to sealed bottles from proper shops.

Medicines

• There are often shortages of medicine in Pakistan, and imported medical supplies can be restricted. Bring a full supply of anything you need, in its original packaging, plus the prescription.

The trap: your handset, not your SIM

• Pakistan registers mobile devices by IMEI, and an unregistered handset does not stay on the network.
• A visitor registers one device temporarily at dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs, free of duty and tax, and the registration runs 120 days from the date of arrival, not from the day you apply. Apply on day 30 and you get 90 days, not 120.
• One device only, and an IMEI that has used the facility once cannot use it again on a later trip without paying the normal duty. A second visit means a fresh application for a different handset.
• The IMEI is paired to the Pakistani number you register. Put a different SIM into that phone and it will not get service. This catches people who buy a second SIM for data.
• You need the passport number, the IMEI, the Pakistani mobile number, your arrival date and your intended departure date to apply.

The way round it

• Roaming on your own foreign SIM needs no registration at all. The PTA says so explicitly: an international SIM used as a roamer is fine. If you are here for a week, that is the simpler answer.

Buying the SIM

• Go to an operator service centre or franchise, with your original passport and valid visa. Zong, for example, also records the FIA entry stamp.
• Biometric verification against NADRA is part of the process, so it happens in person and cannot be done for you by someone else.

Expect it to be switched off sometimes

• Mobile data and internet are cut without warning during protests and unrest, and have been in Pakistan-administered Kashmir recently. Download maps and confirmations in advance and keep a paper note of your hotel.

Power

• Type C and D sockets at 230 V and 50 Hz. Type D is the large round three pin, so a European two pin will often fit and a UK plug will not.
• Most sockets are universal ones that take several plug shapes, but carry an adaptor anyway.
• Load shedding is a fact of life. Bring a power bank.

Language

• Urdu is the national language and English is an official language, used in government, business, higher education and most signage. You will get a long way in English in the cities.

Behaviour

• Loud or rowdy public behaviour attracts a negative response. Being considerate of others is the cultural default and the FCDO says so directly.
• Dress modestly, shoulders and legs covered, for men as well as women.
• During Ramadan, which in 2026 ran from about mid-February to mid-March, do not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum in public in daylight, including in a car, and do not play loud music or dance. Expect shorter shop hours and unpredictable driving at dusk.

Cards

• Credit card fraud is common. The FCDO and Global Affairs Canada say so independently, which is about as strong as a warning of this kind gets.
• Keep the card in sight, use machines inside banks and hotels rather than on the street, and check your statement while you are still in the country.

Cash and what people steal

• Cell phones, credit cards and passports are the favourite targets of pickpockets, in Canada's wording. Pakistan is a cash economy in daily life, so you will carry some; carry it in more than one place.
• Avoid showing signs of affluence. British nationals of Pakistani origin in particular are targeted by criminals as being perceived to be wealthier than locals.
• In a car, keep valuables out of sight, windows closed and doors locked.

Documents

• There is an active black market in forged and stolen passports, which is the practical reason to keep yours in the hotel safe and carry a copy plus other photo ID.
• Always carry photo ID. You can be asked for it and detained until you can produce it.

The travel advice, stated first

• The FCDO advises against all travel to Balochistan Province, to within 10 miles of the Afghan border, to within 10 miles of the Line of Control, and to a long list of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts including Peshawar, Swat, Khyber, Kohat, Kurram, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, both Waziristans, Upper and Lower Dir, plus the Karakoram Highway between Mansehra and Chilas and the N45 up to Chitral including the Kalash valley.
• It advises against all but essential travel to Malakand, Mardan, Nowshera, Shangla and Swabi, to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, to within 5 miles of the Indian border, to Dera Ghazi Khan, and to all of Sindh north of and including Nawabshah.
• Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are not on either list.
• Canada is stricter about Karachi, advising against non-essential travel to the city with named exceptions. Where two governments differ, the honest summary is that the risk is real and the boundary is a judgement call, not a fact.
• Travelling against advice can invalidate your insurance. Check the policy against the map.

Terrorism

• The threat is high and countrywide, worst in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but with attacks in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore too. A suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad in February 2026 killed at least 36 people.
• Attacks have targeted Chinese nationals and, more broadly, people of East Asian appearance.
• Keep a low profile, vary routes and timings, and limit movement on Friday afternoons. That last one is the FCDO's own advice and it is easy to follow.
• Avoid processions, protests, rallies, religious gatherings and large public events.

Where you may not simply go

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and several districts of Azad Kashmir need advance permission from local or federal authorities, and there are prohibited areas around military installations, nuclear plants and bases. You may be turned back.
• Some areas require a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Interior, and local authorities will tell you if yours does.

Laws that carry very serious penalties

• Blasphemy is broadly defined, covers private and public comments including social media, and carries penalties up to the death penalty. Those accused also face a serious risk of public violence. This is the single law to be most careful about.
• Alcohol is illegal for Muslims. Non-Muslims may drink but need a licence from the authorities, and supplying alcohol to a Muslim is illegal. Public drinking or drunkenness means detention.
• Drug possession, even a small quantity, means prison, and cases move slowly.
• Do not photograph military establishments, airports, bridges, dams or anything from an aircraft.
• Same-sex sexual activity between men is illegal, with arrests and a real risk of violence.
• Unmarried couples living together is illegal, though the hotel-room rule is generally not applied to visiting foreigners in tourist areas.
• Dress modestly. Men and women should cover shoulders and legs; women should cover their heads in mosques, at holy places and in rural areas.

Roads and weather

• Road conditions outside the motorways are variable and driving standards erratic, especially at night.
• You need both a 1968 international driving permit and your own licence in the car, and the IDP cannot be bought outside your home country.
• Monsoon runs from late June to early October and floods every province. Landslides block mountain roads, and earth tremors are common.

The numbers

Before you need them

• There is no single number. Save both, because dialling the wrong one in an emergency costs minutes.
• Response times vary enormously between cities and rural areas, and over an hour is realistic in the mountains.
• If you are a dual British-Pakistani national, be aware that the FCDO will not normally get involved in dealings between you and the Pakistani authorities. Know a local lawyer's number if you are staying long.
• Keep a written note of your hotel's address and your embassy's number offline. Mobile data goes down during unrest.