The UAE has now stopped issuing regular visas to Pakistani nationals, with a senior Pakistani official citing concerns about Pakistanis traveling to the Gulf country and “being involved in criminal activities”, a Dawn report said.
Additional Interior Minister Salman Chaudhry told Pakistan’s Senate Human Rights Functional Committee on Thursday that both the UAE and Saudi Arabia had “stopped short of imposing a total ban” on the Pakistani passport – adding that “if the ban is imposed, it would be difficult to remove it”.
Why did the UAE stop issuing visas?
Committee chairperson Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri confirmed the development on the suspension of visas for Pakistanis from the UAE – saying the restrictions stemmed from repeated incidents of Pakistani visitors being found “involved in illegal activities” inside the UAE, Dawn quoted him as saying.
She said the UAE imposed the ban due to growing concerns that Pakistanis coming there were “engaging in criminal activities,” Dawn reported. She further added that recently only a handful of visas have been granted, “and that too after great difficulties”.
Are there any exceptions?
The UAE has unofficially stopped issuing visas to Pakistani passport holders, with the exception of blue and diplomatic passports.
Which other countries have stopped visas for Pakistan?
As of 27 April 2025, India has officially canceled all existing valid visas granted to Pakistani nationals and suspended further visa services. All previously granted visas have been canceled and no new tourist, business or medical visas are being processed.
According to official figures, over 8,00,000 Pakistanis apply for visas to the Gulf and Middle East countries every year in search of employment and better economic opportunities.
Pakistan visa was rejected in July
Pakistani citizens reportedly began facing widespread visa denials as early as July, prompting Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to take up the issue with his UAE counterpart. In a meeting on July 11, UAE Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan assured Naqvi of “full support” but restrictions remained in place, Dawn reported.
In early April, the UAE ambassador to Pakistan, Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, claimed that the visa issues had been “resolved” and that Pakistanis could obtain five-year visas, a statement now contradicted by Islamabad’s own officials.
Concerns about misuse of visitor visas by Pakistani nationals have been raised several times. In January, Pakistan’s Senate Committee on Overseas Pakistanis was told that some UAE visas had been “unofficially closed”, according to a Dawn report.
