UAE Stops Visas to Pakistanis, Interior Ministry

Friday, 28 November 2025 | Web Desk

The Interior Ministry gave an important briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, informing members that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is currently not issuing visas to ordinary Pakistani passport holders. Only individuals with blue (official) passports and diplomatic passports are being granted visas.

Officials told the committee that Pakistan narrowly avoided an impending visa ban by the UAE and Saudi Arabia on regular Pakistani passports. They warned that if such a ban were imposed, lifting it later would be extremely difficult.

According to the Interior Ministry, a neighboring country interfered with Pakistan’s passport system and managed to obtain passports fraudulently. Officials admitted that Pakistan itself shares responsibility, as corruption must have played a role somewhere in the process. A few months ago, Saudi Arabia deported a large number of people identified as Pakistanis; however, many of them were actually Afghan nationals living there under Pakistani identities.

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The ministry further informed the committee that 21,647 Pakistanis are currently imprisoned in 61 countries worldwide. The majority of these arrests involve minor offenses, mainly overstaying visas, identity fraud, or bank fraud. Very few Pakistanis are involved in serious crimes such as murder, organized crime, or terrorism.