ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday made a surprise visit to Islamabad International Airport to review immigration arrangements for Hajj pilgrims and other passengers under the ‘Road to Makkah’ initiative.

Mr Naqvi inspected Saudi immigration counters set up at the airport and met staff deputed there. Under the programme, Pakistani pilgrims complete Saudi immigration formalities in Islamabad before departure, allowing them to bypass queues on arrival in the kingdom. Hajj pilgrims told the minister they were satisfied with the arrangements.

“The process was extremely easy; we faced no difficulty,” they said, thanking Mr Naqvi for the facilitation. Other passengers also said immigration counters were fully operational at international arrivals.

“Immigration took only a few minutes; the process was very easy,” they said. Mr Naqvi also visited the Joint Search Check Post and directed officials to make the search system “more effective and faster”.

He said the security system was being upgraded with modern technology and stressed the need to ensure passenger facilitation and security simultaneously.

He instructed all agencies to work in coordination, saying that providing facilities to passengers without delay was the “top priority”.

DG FIA Dr Usman Anwar, Director FIA Islamabad Zone Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari and other officers accompanied the minister.

The Road to Makkah initiative allows immigration clearance for Hajj pilgrims at departure airports in Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco and Bangladesh. In Pakistan, it operates at airports in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. Pilgrims are tagged and proceed directly to their accommodation in Saudi Arabia, avoiding hours-long immigration procedures at airports in Jeddah and Madinah.

More than 89,000 Pakistani pilgrims are expected to perform Hajj this year, with 50 per cent using the scheme.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2026