As a Pakistani passport holder, visa-free travel seems like a dream. Having wanderlust and being bitten by the travel bug can also be an ordeal in itself. This is mainly because no matter how extensively and thoroughly you plan your trip, the whole thing can fall through if the relevant embassies and authorities reject your request for a visit visa. Plans can also fall apart if the visa approval is delayed or not granted for the number of days that you wish to stay in a particular country.
Being globally ranked 91 on the Passport Index, Pakistan’s passport is one of the weakest in the world, with Iraq and Afghanistan being the only two countries having their passports further down the list. In comparison, residents of the UAE now hold the world’s most powerful passport with numerous EU and non-EU countries following suit, like Singapore, the UK, the US, Japan, and Canada.
Fortunately, the answer is yes! 36 out of a total of 199 countries, do welcome Pakistani travellers without asking them to go through a lengthy visa application process first.
Want to know more? Stay with us as we discuss the countries you can head to visa-free as a Pakistani passport holder.
Visa-free Travel for Pakistanis
While travelling domestically within Pakistan is obviously always an option, the other 7 countries that you can simply buy a ticket to are:Travel Duration: Up to 180 days
- Dominica
Travel Duration: Up to 90 days
- Haiti
- Trinidad and Tobago
Travel Duration: Up to 30 days
- Micronesia
- Qatar
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Vanuatu
Visa on Arrival for a Pakistani Passport Holder
While the above 7 countries offer visa-free entry to Pakistani travellers, there are 19 other countries that offer you a visa on arrival at their airport.Travel Duration: Up to 90 days
- Bolivia
- Cape Verde
- Comoros
- Guinea-Bissau
- Madagascar
Travel Duration: Up to 60 days
- Samoa
Travel Duration: Up to 30 days
- Cambodia
- Maldives
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Nepal
- Palau
- Rwanda
- Somalia
- Timor-Leste
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Seychelles [after tourist registration is done at the airport]
Travel Duration: Up to 7 days
- Togo
Countries Offering Quick eVisa Facilities for Pakistani Travellers
An eVisa is an entry permit that can be applied for online, via an official web-based portal of the country you plan to visit. While it is not as convenient as simply buying a ticket and travelling to the destination of your choosing, applying for a visa online is still easier and faster than going down the traditional route where you need to visit an embassy to apply for a tourist visa physically. The 10 countries where you can apply for an eVisa as a Pakistani are:Travel Duration: Up to 90 days
- Azerbaijan
- Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) [after pre-enrolment is done online]
- Ethiopia
- Kenya
- Turkey
Travel Duration: Up to 44 days
- Lesotho
Travel Duration: Up to 30 days
- Djibouti
- Gabon
- Malaysia
Travel Duration: Up to 28 days
- Myanmar
Travelling to the Rest of the World
It is important to note here that while most countries do not allow entry to Pakistanis without a visit visa, you might be exempt from the lengthy visit visa process if you have a valid UK, US or Schengen visa. In such scenarios, you might simply need to apply for a quick and immediate eVisa to your destination without facing any inconveniences. For this, you will need to check the visa requirements for each country individually before making your travel plans.
On the whole, as per the Passport Index, while the Pakistani passport has gotten stronger over the last year with a few more countries joining the visa-free list, there is still a lot to be done to make travelling entirely visa-free for Pakistanis. In the meantime, people with wanderlust can make the most of the beautiful 36 locations that offer them visa-free access to their land. Here’s to hoping that more countries will open up their borders for Pakistani travellers as time goes by.
0 Comments