Pakistan announced to introduce on-arrival visa for 50 countries and e-visas for 175 countries in order to revive tourism in the country on Friday.
Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while addressing media said citizens from 50 countries will be granted visas on arrival while 175 countries will be granted the e-visa facility, as Pakistan is willing to book tourism by woo visitors to witness its scenic beauty.
Information Minister further said that on-arrival visa to Pakistan will be granted to Indian-origin British, US passport-holders.
The information minister said IATA-approved tour operators can now bring tourist groups to the country under the new policy which, he said, will usher in a new era of progress and prosperity in the country.
“We want to make ‘Naya Pakistan’ a heaven for tourists,” Fawad Chaudhry said.
Business visas will now be provided to citizens of 96 countries, an increase from the previous 68 countries. The business visas will be stamped in eight to ten days, he said.
Chaudhry said the duration of diplomatic visas has been extended from one year to three years, while that of students’ visas to two years from one year.
Tourists can now visit all parts of the country including open cantonments, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. They are no longer required to obtain any NOC, the federal minister added.
He said that journalist visas will now be processed through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and they will also be given long-term visas without any curbs.
The new visa regime was approved in a meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday.
Potentially restarting tourism has been one of the most talked about parts of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for Pakistan during his government’s tenure.
Pakistan was last a prominent tourist destination in the 1970s when the “hippie trail” brought Western travelers through the apricot and walnut orchards of the Swat Valley and Kashmir on their way to India and Nepal.
