No more visa on arrival for Afghan nationals as per new rules

E-Paper | September 30, 2026

No more visa on arrival for Afghan nationals as per new rules

Shakeel Qarar Published January 3, 2019

A man has his photograph taken at the passport office in Kabul.—AFP/File

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The federal government has restricted the movement of Afghan citizens in Pakistan and excluded them from the list of nationals who are offered visa on arrival, DawnNewsTV learnt on Thursday.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Immigration Asmatullah Junejo said that these measures have been taken due to security concerns.

"All Afghan nationals who want to visit Pakistan will have to obtain a visa from Pakistani consulates in their country," he said, adding that Afghan nationals will have to register themselves with the law enforcement agencies in the country.

The Afghan nationals will be given entry through "Form C" at airports, Junejo said. "Details of the visiting Afghan nationals will also be provided to the relevant district police officers and police stations," he added.

According to the new rules, a stay permit will be issued to visiting Afghan nationals following their registration and subsequently a travel permit will be issued after they submit their stay permit.

Currently, Pakistan offers visa on arrival facility to citizens of 24 countries, including China, Malaysia, and the United States.

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Shakeel Qarar is an Islamabad-based reporter for Dawn News (TV), having been with the organization since 2012. His reporting covers crime, law and order, and security, with a specific focus on the Ministry of Interior and its subordinate agencies. He can be found on X at @Qarar009.

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BhaRAT

Jan 03, 2019 07:32pm

Great decision by Pakistan government Afghan nationals are spreading terrorism in Pakistan and supporting nationalists movement in Tribal areas

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Asif Kashmiri

Jan 03, 2019 07:33pm

Excellent and long overdue decision!

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sana

Jan 03, 2019 07:34pm

very good decision.

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M. Saeed

Jan 03, 2019 07:39pm

But, there are millions of Afghan national living since ages in Pakistan?

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Salman Rizvi

Jan 03, 2019 07:50pm

Good!

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Dawnleaks

Jan 03, 2019 07:50pm

Finally a step in the right direction

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Khan

Jan 03, 2019 07:54pm

Best news of 2019!

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Pak_UK

Jan 03, 2019 08:01pm

Very well done.

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Sheraz Ali

Jan 03, 2019 08:02pm

A very good move. No more uninvited guest please

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Pak_UK

Jan 03, 2019 08:08pm

There should be no compromise on security.

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Emerging Pakistan

Jan 03, 2019 08:11pm

Great news, now the illegal crossings from the border needs to stopped too, they have been unthankful to Pakistan anyways.

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Guru

Jan 03, 2019 08:17pm

Bravo! MashaAllah....

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Syed H

Jan 03, 2019 08:22pm

Good heavens; to think for all these years Afghans were getting visas on arrival! The FIA director is quoted in this news article as saying "these measures have been taken due to security concerns." Did the FIA only now notice that we have been at war for so many years against terror emanating from this Afghanistan, a country that does not even acknowledge our international borders and whose leaders regularly call for our destruction? This would be funny, if it were not for the all the lives lost. Then again, better late than never, I suppose. I am glad that at least this new government is taking some action that is long overdue.

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Prateik

Jan 03, 2019 08:24pm

Afghans were supposed to be brothers.

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SkyHawk

Jan 03, 2019 08:25pm

Good decision. Please send the Afghan refugees back to their country.

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Zack

Jan 03, 2019 08:35pm

Finally the new government is taking steps that should have been done before

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chengez k

Jan 03, 2019 08:37pm

What about PTM?

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Bpd

Jan 03, 2019 08:38pm

Citizens from 24 countries are now issued 'on-arrival' visas in Pakistan. They include citizens from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Spain, and Singapore See the difference!!

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Asad khan

Jan 03, 2019 09:29pm

How come US citizens are not a threat to Pakistan security, get ready to deal with CIA propaganda.

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Rajesh

Jan 03, 2019 09:40pm

Great decision in the interest of the interior security. Also a little confused about "Currently, Pakistan offers visa on arrival facility to citizens of 24 countries, including China, Malaysia, and the United States". Normally, the Visa rules are set on a reciprocal basis; do China, Malaysia & the USA provide Visa on arrival to Pakistani citizens?

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Zen

Jan 03, 2019 09:43pm

@Bpd, Forgot to include Turkey: Iran : UAE : Saudi Arab : Norway Sweden Switzerland: Italy Hong Kong :

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sana

Jan 03, 2019 09:43pm

ban them entirely

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Raja Farhat Abbas

Jan 03, 2019 09:44pm

Best news of the year 2019.!

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Jan 03, 2019 09:50pm

Excellent decision by the current P.T.I. administration in Islamabad to exclude for security reasons the Afghan nationals from the list of 24 countries whose citizens are offered visa on arrival in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

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Jan 03, 2019 09:54pm

Right step. Many afghan involved in terrorism worldwide show themselves as Pakistani using fake CNIC of Pakistan. Same way, most of Afghan doing jobs in Dubai on fake CNIC of pakistan

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Maria Farooq

Jan 03, 2019 10:01pm

@Prateik, Indeed. Despite of being unthankful to Pakistan, the borders were still open for them for decades.

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Maria Farooq

Jan 03, 2019 10:02pm

@Syed H, truely said!

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Khalid

Jan 03, 2019 10:05pm

@M. Saeed, they should go back.

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naji

Jan 03, 2019 10:10pm

Very good move of Pakistan. 80% wrong activities are coming from out side, especially, weapons, drugs, illegal currency, and criminals.

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Shabbir

Jan 03, 2019 10:12pm

Better late than never.

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Tabi

Jan 03, 2019 10:17pm

Great

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Tabi

Jan 03, 2019 10:19pm

Its a good step to fight terrorism

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Imran

Jan 03, 2019 10:23pm

Deer Amad Darust Amad.... Great Decision

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WASEEM MALIK

Jan 03, 2019 10:31pm

it was long due. good decision.

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Ahmed

Jan 03, 2019 10:33pm

Great decision. Hope no political party makes an issue.

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Mubeen Khan

Jan 03, 2019 10:35pm

Good news but rules of entry should be made even harder for Afgan nationals. Pakistan also needs to make sure their side of the border is water tights to stop infiltration.

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Jonjoe

Jan 03, 2019 10:41pm

Long overdue and about time we started reporting afghans who harbour nothing but ill will against the land that has given them so much!

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Syed Saad Ahmed

Jan 03, 2019 10:52pm

@Syed H, Absolutely spot-on. I couldn't have said it better myself. Now let's hope those so-called "human rights organizations" or "NGO's" don't start crying, exaggerating and blowing the whole thing out of proportion, as they always tend to do whenever such measures are taken

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Jan 03, 2019 11:09pm

After sacrificing lives of 70000 and so much anarchi? Isn’t that too late? They are everywhere..,,

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LUVPAK71

Jan 03, 2019 11:28pm

Awesome decision by the govt.

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ExPak

Jan 03, 2019 11:39pm

Excellent decision! Should’ve been done long time ago.

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Pastun

Jan 03, 2019 11:43pm

@Prateik, - Yes they are still brothers..these security measures are to prevent "the imposters" from "other" countries sneaking into our country...

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sfomann

Jan 04, 2019 12:07am

Unfortunately the Afghanis are very unthankful nations. We have done so much for them and still they are cahooting with Indians to stab us in the back.

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Nasir

Jan 04, 2019 12:34am

At last the long awaited desired decision. Well keep hard on Afghan terrorists who spread terrorism in Pakistan.

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Awan

Jan 04, 2019 12:41am

Well done

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Ahmed

Jan 04, 2019 12:47am

Perhaps Afghans may now appreciate how open Pakistan had been and continues to be in return for their ghadari.

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Zahid

Jan 04, 2019 01:04am

Great decision .Thanks FIA

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Sarfaraz Khan

Jan 04, 2019 01:05am

Good decision made by this government for the sake of people’s security.

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Swiss Neutral

Jan 04, 2019 01:21am

Makes no difference. The border is so porous that they can walk in

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Dawn

Jan 04, 2019 01:42am

Right decision.

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Anonymous

Jan 04, 2019 02:44am

Good decision, however, I wonder why this decision was not taken earlier? Since it has been rightly claimed by the Pakistani military that the terrorists often cross over from Afghanistan to Pakistan, so why was this step not taken earlier?

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Sajid

Jan 04, 2019 03:32am

Not sure if right or wrong decision; but I feel it should have been case by case as there are plenty of good people both sides that will suffer.

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Sid

Jan 04, 2019 04:55am

Very smart move by the present government of Pakistan,we can prevent bad guys out of our country and control law and order in a very efficient way. Pakistan Zndabad

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Omer (USA)

Jan 04, 2019 06:04am

The real question is why did Pakistan take such a long time to rethink this policy? And who enacted it in the first place?

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Abdul Ghaffar

Jan 04, 2019 07:15am

If visa on arrival for United States is available I recommend our foreign Office to inform all embassies and consulates. Your article maybe not be accurate. I have had to get visas when entering

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Tanvir Afgan

Jan 04, 2019 08:12am

Islamabad is teeming with Afghans riding luxury vehicles; their entry must be controlled and regulated. We cannot allow our way of life to be affected by ill gotten wealth.

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Fahad Ali

Jan 04, 2019 08:46am

Highly appreciate the decision by Government of Pakistan

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SAK

Jan 04, 2019 10:03am

Bravo; great decision. Enough is enough now these so called brothers must be scrutinized before entering into Pakistan because most of them are the agents and creating unrest in our country through their anti Pakistan activities.

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