Pakistan
Pakistan is a South Asian federal republic of around 230 million people — the world's fifth most populous country — bordering India, Afghanistan, Iran and China. Urdu is the national language and English the working language of government and business, alongside Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi and other regional languages. The visa system runs through the official online NADRA portal, which issues e-Visas and electronic Visa-on-Arrival approvals for eligible nationalities.
Pakistan visa system overview
Pakistan operates an online visa system through the official NADRA portal, launched in 2019, which issues e-Visas for tourism and business and an electronic Visa-on-Arrival approval for eligible nationalities at Islamabad (ISB), Karachi (KHI), Lahore (LHE), Multan (MUX) and Peshawar (PEW) international airports. The standard tourist e-Visa is single-entry up to 90 days, carries a fee that varies by nationality and should be checked on the official portal before applying, and is filed online with a passport scan, recent photograph, return or onward ticket, hotel booking, and sponsor or guide letter where applicable, typically issued within 4 to 7 working days. The Visa-on-Arrival route is open to citizens of around fifty approved countries (including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, all EU and EEA member states, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the Gulf states); travellers apply online through the same NADRA portal before flying, receive the electronic VOA approval, present it together with passport (valid at least six months beyond the planned stay), return ticket and accommodation evidence at the airport, and pay the fee on arrival. Travellers who do not qualify for the e-Visa or VOA file at the Pakistani embassy or High Commission of residence; standard documentation is the application form, passport, photographs, invitation letter or hotel reservation, evidence of funds, return ticket and the visa fee, with processing typically of one to two weeks. Long-stay categories — Work Visa via Board of Investment (BOI) sponsorship, Student Visa for institutions registered with the Higher Education Commission, Religious Pilgrimage Visa for Sikh and Hindu pilgrims to Kartarpur, Nankana Sahib, Hasan Abdal and the Hinglaj Mata shrine, and Family Visit Visa — are filed through Pakistani diplomatic missions abroad. Mountain access permits for restricted-area trekking and for any climbing above 6,500 m run through the Alpine Club of Pakistan and the Tourism Department of Gilgit-Baltistan rather than through the visa system. Currency declaration is required on entry and exit for amounts above the equivalent of USD 10,000.
Visa types
The standard online route for tourism, family visits and short cultural and trekking trips, filed through the official NADRA portal before travel. Documentation: passport scan with at least six months' validity beyond the planned stay, recent passport-style photograph, return or onward ticket, hotel booking or sponsor's address, the visa fee (checked on the portal, as it varies by nationality), and for some nationalities a tour-operator letter. The approval is delivered as a printable e-Visa to be presented at the airport.
Guides
Pakistan rewards visitors who anchor a trip on Lahore and the Karakoram and let the rest of the country fold into one of those two centres — Mughal architecture and a deep Sufi shrine network in the south, and some of the world's great mountain trekking in Gilgit-Baltistan's Karakoram, Hindu Kush and Western Himalaya ranges in the north. Islamabad, Karachi and Peshawar add a modernist capital, an Arabian Sea metropolis and a Gandhara-era caravan city to the circuit.
Pakistan travel guide →
Mughal Lahore, the Gandhara ruins and Mohenjo-Daro, K2 and the Karakoram, the Sikh shrines, and the great highway north.
Money in Pakistan →
The rupee, the cash you need for the mountain north, and where cards and ATMs actually work.
Eating in Pakistan →
Slow-cooked nihari and charcoal kebabs, Karachi biryani, tandoor bread, and a different regional kitchen from the coast to Hunza.
Getting around Pakistan →
Domestic flights and the mountain airports, the motorway coaches, and the slow, spectacular roads into the north.
Health & safety in Pakistan →
Acclimatising in the high north, the food-water-and-heat basics, and checking the current advice for your route.
Cities & planning
Regions
Embassies & missions
Frequently asked questions
Most nationalities do, but many travellers qualify for the electronic Visa-on-Arrival: citizens of around fifty approved countries — the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, all EU and EEA states, Switzerland, Japan and others — apply online through the official NADRA portal before flying and present the approval on arrival. Everyone else uses the online e-visa or applies at a Pakistani embassy.
Most trips pass without incident, but conditions vary across the country and some border and restricted areas require permits or are not open to independent travel. The most useful habit is to read your own government's current travel advice close to your departure date — that official guidance is the authoritative source for which regions are open to visitors at any given time.
Discuss your trip with a travel-medicine clinic several weeks ahead. Typical advice for the region includes hepatitis A and typhoid with your routine vaccinations, and often hepatitis B and rabies for longer or rural and mountain trips, plus advice on malaria for the southern plains. The mountain north demands gradual altitude acclimatisation, and travel insurance covering high-altitude evacuation is essential there.
Planning a trip to Pakistan? Check what you need to enter and apply online in minutes.
This overview comes from Visaja's worldwide missions database (visaja.com), checked against official government sources; for binding answers, the mission itself always has the final word.