News Desk |
The Interior Ministry issued a new visa policy on 27th April, providing visa relaxations to 48 countries, including Iran, Russia, China, Sri Lanka, Australia, Malaysia, Denmark, Brazil, Germany, and Turkey. Afghanistan, the United Kingdom, India, and the United States did not make it to the list of countries who will enjoy visa relaxations while travelling to Pakistan.
The new visa policy has been implemented from 15th April, and the Interior Ministry has issued a notification to inform the 48 countries of the visa relaxations they will now be enjoying. Under this new policy, the citizens of Turkey, Germany, China, Malaysia and other brotherly nations with enjoy multiple visa relaxations, along with benefitting from the convenience of visa on arrival. These citizens will be provided visa at the airport upon landing.
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The new visa policy dictates that diplomats and government passport holders from 31 countries can benefit from extended visa durations and visa on arrival convenience, diplomatic passport holders from 12 countries will also enjoy visa on arrival while all citizens and passport holders from 5 countries will also enjoy this relaxation. The countries that have signed this agreement with Pakistan will be provided with visa facilities while landing on the airport.
As per the new visa policy, citizens of China, Turkey, Malaysia and UAE amongst others can also obtain a Pakistani visa through e-mail by paying a nominal fee of $8. The first phase of the implementation process will begin with five countries that enjoy major relaxations, these include China, Malaysia, and Turkey.
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Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the new visa policy earlier in March and had claimed that it will help strengthen Pakistan’s tourism industry by making the visa application and approval process more convenient. This new policy has emerged as one of the major changes funneled by the PTI-led government. Earlier, as per the new visa policy, Pakistan had provide E-Visa facility to citizens from 175 countries, and now, 48 countries will enjoy the convenience of visa on arrival.