Visa on arrival facility in effect for 48 countries by Pakistan

Dunya News

The visa will be granted for a period of three months initially.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The interior ministry has issued a notification on Saturday enforcing a new visa policy for the nationals of 48 countries, who will be able to avail visa-on-arrival facility, Dunya News reported.

According to the notification, the new visa policy came into effect from April 15.

Under the policy, visa requirements have been relaxed for 48 countries, including Brazil, Germany, Iran, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey, China, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Denmark.

However, India, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), and Afghanistan were not included in the list, which implies that citizens from these countries will not be facilitated under the policy.

The visa will be granted for a period of three months initially.

Importantly, from the list of 48 countries, diplomats of 12 countries will also be able to avail the facility. Diplomats and government passport holders of 31 countries can also benefit from the new visa policy.

Moreover, the concerned departments and foreign missions have been informed about the new policy.

Earlier, on 13th March, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced the launch of a visa-on-arrival policy for five countries, including Turkey, China, Malaysia, the UK, and the UAE.

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has developed an e-visa service which is similar to the systems in the US and UK.

The then information minister, Fawad Ch had said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government plans to provide online visa facility to residents of over 175 countries to boost tourism.