new visa policy, Visa on arrival facility for 48 countries

The Ministry of Interior has notified a new visa policy under which nationals of as many as 48 countries will be able to get visa on arrival facility.

According to a notification put out by the ministry, 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.

Whereas, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan won’t be able to benefit from the new visa policy.

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

Citizens of 48 countries will be able to benefit from the visa on arrival facility. Besides, 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.

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.

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