KARACHI: Growth in remittances could face a decline or may not show any significant growth particularly from the Middle Eastern countries, said multiple sources.

While securing visas for Arab countries is getting tough, local authorities have also adopted strict rules to check the exodus of skilled and unskilled workers.

A recruiting agent said getting a visa has become very difficult while double checking for a job seeker on a work visa has made success almost impossible.

“For even lowest paid jobs, delegations come to Pakistan for personal verification and they carry out detailed scrutiny, reducing the chance for overseas jobs,” according to an official working for a recruiting agency.

The country received record inflows of $38 billion in remittances in FY25, a definitive indicator that most of the 1.5 million Pakistanis who have left the country over the last three years, found jobs in Middle Eastern countries.

Growth in remittances is already much lower this year (FY26) than the figures for last year (FY25), but the amount of remittances is higher. During July-Nov FY26 growth in remittances was 9.3 per cent, compared to 33.6 per cent during the same period of last fiscal year.

The government has chalked out a strategy to assist Pakistanis find jobs overseas and to gain a first-hand insight into the challenges confronting them overseas. However, the exchange companies also mentioned the problem with the new job seekers.

Thousands of beggars were arrested last year, particularly in Saudi Arabia and most of them were Pakistanis. It damaged the country’s reputation and increased concerns in countries providing jobs.

The malaise alerted the Saudi Authorities as well as Pakistani authorities. Now immigrants face tough scrutiny in both the countries — Pakistan and the destination.

51,000 offloaded

In mid-December, a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis was informed that 51,000 passengers were offloaded at Pakistani airports this year after failing immigration checks.

Over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. These actions followed a crackdown on migrant smuggling launched after the 2024 Greece boat tragedy, which claimed the lives of several Pakistanis.

“So far the symptoms of decline in inflows have not appeared, but will appear sooner or later,” said a source in the financial market.

Another problem is that unskilled workers are no longer needed in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries due to increasing influx from other countries. Moreover, Arab countries have started providing as many jobs to their own citizens as possible.

“Only high-skilled labourers or experts in Information Technology have a chance to get a job in the coming months and years,” said the source.

Dozens of Pakistani IT companies shifted to Dubai last year due to poor internet facilities, high cost of electricity and uncertainty in the country — both economic and political.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2026