Interior Ministry says Pakistan narrowly escaped a complete ban on its passports from the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri chairs a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights in Islamabad on Thursday, Nov 27, 2025. Photo: Senate of Pakistan/X
The United Arab Emirates is processing nearly 500 visas daily for Pakistani nationals under new facilitation reforms, even as Pakistan’s Interior Ministry warned the Senate that the Emirates had stopped issuing visas — except for diplomatic and blue-passport holders.
The ministry highlighted growing concerns over passport misuse, human trafficking, and the vulnerabilities facing overseas Pakistanis, while the UAE ambassador presented a more optimistic picture of ongoing travel and visa support.
The revelation came during a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, where the Interior Ministry said that the United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals — except for diplomatic and blue-passport holders.
Additional Interior Secretary Salman Chaudhry told the committee that Pakistan had narrowly escaped a complete ban on its passports from the UAE and Saudi Arabia — a step he warned would have been “extremely difficult” to reverse.
Chaudhry briefed the committee, chaired by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, on the scale of challenges abroad, reporting that 21,647 Pakistanis are currently imprisoned across 61 countries, mostly for minor offences such as overstaying visas, identity fraud, and bank-related violations.
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He also highlighted that 93 per cent of Pakistan’s overseas workforce — nearly 800,000 people — is employed in Gulf states, underscoring the economic stakes tied to regional labour mobility.
A significant portion of the briefing focused on human trafficking networks operating from multiple districts in Punjab. These networks reportedly charge young people between Rs4.3 million and Rs5 million to send them abroad through illegal and dangerous routes.
Senator Zehri expressed serious concern over the surge in trafficking cases and criticised the near absence of awareness campaigns at airports and in major cities.
Additional interior secretary further disclosed that more than 500,000 Afghan nationals had lived abroad using Pakistani passports, with some involved in criminal activities while posing as Pakistanis. He said NADRA had now fully digitised its citizen database to prevent further misuse.
The committee called for stronger enforcement, improved public awareness, and coordinated measures to address the layered risks facing Pakistan’s migrant workers and the integrity of its identity documents.
However, in contrast to the ministry’s briefing, the newly appointed UAE ambassador to Pakistan said the Emirates was processing “nearly 500 visas daily” for Pakistani nationals under new facilitation reforms.
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He shared the update during a meeting in Islamabad with Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, where both officials reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening strategic and economic ties.
Senator Aurangzeb welcomed the UAE’s continued support, noting its contributions across trade, investment, remittances, government-to-government financing and assistance in Pakistan’s engagement with international financial institutions.
He said the frequency of high-level exchanges “reflects the closeness of our ties,” adding that Pakistan is now focused on expanding trade and attracting long-term investment rather than relying on traditional support mechanisms.
The minister highlighted Emirati investment in ports, digital banking, logistics and infrastructure, and encouraged further participation from UAE sovereign wealth funds, private companies and multinational firms.
He briefed the ambassador on improving macroeconomic indicators, including stable reserves, easing inflation, a stronger currency outlook and rising remittances — particularly from the UAE — saying Pakistan was pursuing “a growth-focused agenda centred on private-sector-led and investment-driven expansion.”
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Ambassador Al Zaabi acknowledged the historic relationship between the two countries and the longstanding contributions of Pakistani professionals in the Emirates. Strengthening ties “in strategic, economic and cultural dimensions” would remain a priority during his tenure, he said.
He reaffirmed the UAE’s interest in expanding bilateral trade, attracting Pakistani technology firms to the Emirates and facilitating greater Emirati investment in Pakistan. He noted active engagement with companies across agriculture, infrastructure, mining, ports, financial services and virtual assets.
On visa facilitation, the ambassador said the UAE was now “processing nearly 500 visas daily,” adding that online applications, e-visas without passport stamping and new system-to-system integrations with Pakistan were being rolled out to ease travel. He said the new visa centre in Pakistan would help accelerate processing.
Senator Aurangzeb welcomed the update, noting that smoother mobility is essential for boosting business-to-business exchanges, especially as the UAE remains a global hub for investment, trade fairs and technology exhibitions.
The discussion also covered ongoing defence cooperation, training exchanges and longstanding military collaboration. Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to deepen cooperation across trade, investment, finance, technology, defence and people-to-people ties, agreeing to work closely to unlock the “immense potential” in the bilateral relationship.
