Update (Oct. 25, 2021): According to a recent tweet from the official Twitter account of the Pakistan Embassy in Belarus—an East European country—Pakistan’s name has been included in a list based on 75 countries that can now enjoy visa-free travel to Belarus for up to 30 days (including the days of arrival and departure).
Pakistani citizens will be provided with an on-arrival visa once they reach the country only if they fulfil the set criteria and standards. Following are the requirements to obtain Belarus Visa on arrival:
- Foreign citizens to Belarus should have a valid multiple-entry visa of one of the member countries of the European Union and/or Schengen Area.
- Their passports should bear an entry stamp for European Union and/or Schengen Area
- Medical insurance with a minimum coverage of €10,000.
- Assets equivalent to a minimum of two base amounts for each day of stay. A base amount in Belarus is worth 29 Belarusian Ruble, which is around PKR 2,100 as of October 25, 2021.
- Foreigners who are planning to stay in Belarus for more than 10 days should get themselves registered with the country’s Citizenship and Migration Department.
For the complete list of countries now eligible for visa-free travel to Belarus, take a look at the image below:
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 at 104 on the Henley Passport Index (as of January 2020) and tied with Somalia on the same spot, Pakistan’s passport is one of the weakest in the world, with Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan being the only countries having their passports further down the list. In comparison, residents of Japan and Singapore now hold the world’s most powerful passports with South Korea following suit along with numerous EU and non-EU countries, like the UK, the US, and Canada.
So, considering the fact that ours is a weak passport, is visa-free travel even a remote possibility for us?
Fortunately, the answer is yes! 36 out of a total of 193 countries (as recognised by the United Nations) 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 Pakistani Citizens
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 allow you to travel visa-free from Pakistan, there are 18 other countries that offer you a visa on arrival at their airport.
Travel Duration: Up to 90 days
- Guinea-Bissau
- Madagascar
- Mauritania
- Nepal
- Seychelles [after tourist registration is done at the airport]
Travel Duration: Up to 60 days
- Samoa
Travel Duration: Up to 45 days
- Comoros
Travel Duration: Up to 30 days
- Cambodia
- Cape Verde
- Maldives
- Mozambique
- Palau
- Rwanda
- Somalia
- Timor-Leste
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
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 11 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
- Suriname
- Turkey
Travel Duration: Up to 30 days
- Djibouti
- Gabon
- Malaysia
Travel Duration: Up to 28 days
- Myanmar
Travel Duration: Up to 14 days
- Lesotho
Travelling to the Rest of the World
Aside from the countries mentioned above, Pakistani passport holders are required to submit a visa application that needs to be approved before they can travel to any particular country. The application process includes submitting forms, travel documents, as well as hotel and airline bookings in some cases. The time duration that the application process takes can also vary based on the destination you have applied for.
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 easy access to their land. Here’s to hoping that more countries will open up their borders for Pakistani travellers as time goes by.
Keep following Zameen Blog for more travel and tourism posts. Email us at blog@zameen.com if you have any questions or concerns.
