If Pakistan has been on your travel list, but for whatever reason you haven’t been able to visit, I bear good tidings for you. As of 14 August, there have been monumental developments in tourism visa procedures.
Although an application will still have to be filled out — save for visitors from GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries — the process has been greatly streamlined.
Visas will have a validity of 90 days, and will take just 24 hours to be transmitted by e-mail.
If you have a passport from one of these 120 countries (excluding the six in the GCC), including the U.S., the EU, Australia, Mexico, and South Africa, head to this page for the official online application. In addition to tourists (and tourists aware of positioning flights), Pakistan has also simplified the process for business travelers, and Sikh pilgrims.
I visited Pakistan back in 2008, sticking to Karachi, Faisalabad, and Lahore. However, for years I’ve had mental itineraries taking me to Hunza Valley, Mohenjo Daro, and Islamabad. With this visa simplification, maybe I can finally get one of those trips dealt.
Meanwhile, here are a few photos from my 10-day visit in 2008:
Travelers whose passports didn’t make the cut can at least take solace in the fact that the total number of application questions has been reduced from ~100 to ~30.
Leave a Reply