Pakistan visa and entry requirements

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.