Pakistan e-visa and VOA Q&A

[BlueNonoka]

Update:
Currently eVisa and Visa on Arrival can be used at 5 International Airports - Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta. This will be extended to land borders in near future.

I did ask about exit by land border, the reply I received was the same as above (i.e. currently available at the 5 international airports and will be extended to land borders in future).

Note: Currently, when applying visa online, "Port of Entry" is by drop down list and the list only shows the 5 cities mentioned above.
"Port of Exit" is by free text entry.

[laurent_rio]

now they put additional criteria :

Only Nationals of the 5 Countries: United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China and Malaysia who are residing in the same countries can apply for the Pakistani Visa through Pakistan Online Visa System. Applicants will be called for interview if required at the Pakistan Missions Abroad in the same country

so u need to reside in same countries when you apply ? how if u work/live overseas ? thats the purpose on online visa ,right ?

[LittleBootsLara]

I am just about to submit my application for a tourist visa through the new E Visa portal from the UK, where I am a citizen. Regarding the 'employment' category; I work in New Zealand and am due back at work mid June, so I'm currently technically 'unemployed'. I don't want to put that down as I fear it may cause delays as they won't have the assurance that I have a job to come back to, so I have selected 'supported by a family member' . I have the means to support myself financially for the entirety of my trip but it doesn't ask for bank statements or any means of proof. Can you see ticking this box to raise any alarm bells with the consulate? I have a friend who is more than happy to say I work for him at his restaurant close to where I live in England- do you think that would be a safer bet?

Many thanks!

[bwv812]

Reporting yourself as anything other than "employed" (or "student") is just asking for additional scrutiny, and giving them reasons to deny your visa.

[BlueNonoka]

Sharing my experience applying VOA (Tourist) with the newly launched Pakistan Online Visa System. Application was submitted on 15 Apr 2019.
I am happy to report that I received the Electronic Authorization to Travel (ETA) by email within 24 hours of submitting my application.

About me: Malaysian citizen, single, female, retired, individual tourist on this coming trip to Lahore, had travelled to Pakistan a couple of times previously on tours organized by Pakistan tour operators (hence previous visas were obtained using LOI issued by the tour operators).

The whole application process took me over an hour to complete and I was logged out once due to session expired. It’s no joke filling up the travel history for past 3 years (2016 to current) and all the employment details (including previous employment information).

By the way, for both port of entry and port of exit, the system only allows selection from a drop down list of 5 cities - Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta.

As individual tourist, I uploaded photograph, passport and hotel booking confirmation (hotel booked on Agoda).
Note: Agoda sent the hotel confirmaton in pdf format, you need to convert it to jpg/jpeg/png format in order to upload it.

For payment, I was sent an OTP (via text message) to be entered on the website. You are only allowed to submit the application after payment.
Soon after, I received emails confirming the payment submission as well as the application submission.
And within 24 hours, I received the email containing the ETA.

[BlueNonoka]

The e-Visa site has been updated with an FAQ section explaining the difference between Tourist Visa and VOA.
https://visa.nadra.gov.pk/faqs/

Applying for Tourist Visa - you will get a Visa Grant Notice (which is essentially the Visa, with a Visa Reference number).

Applying for VOA - you will get an ETA, it is not a Visa, it merely authorizes you to travel to Pakistan and seek VOA on arrival at the Visa On Arrival counter of the FIA.

[BlueNonoka]

Update on the eVisa site:

Pakistan Online Visa System is now open for the citizens of these 175 Countries.
https://visa.nadra.gov.pk/electronic-tr ... ation-eta/

Moreover, citizens from these 50 Countries are eligible to apply for Visa On Arrival under Tourist Category.
https://visa.nadra.gov.pk/tourist-frien ... ntriestfc/

And the citizens from these 95 Countries are eligible to apply for Visa on Arrival under Business Category.
https://visa.nadra.gov.pk/business-visa-list-bvl/

[helen]

Applying for VOA - you will get an ETA, it is not a Visa, it merely authorizes you to travel to Pakistan and seek VOA on arrival at the Visa On Arrival counter of the FIA.

I (German woman) intend to visit Pakistan in August. I couldn't have applied for the visa back home as I'm travelling for a long time.
From what I understand, the new system allows me to apply for the VOA online, get the ETA and then claim the visa at the airport. So I wouldn't need to apply for the visa from my country of residence. Do I get this right?

[steven]

I (German woman) intend to visit Pakistan in August. I couldn't have applied for the visa back home as I'm travelling for a long time.
From what I understand, the new system allows me to apply for the VOA online, get the ETA and then claim the visa at the airport. So I wouldn't need to apply for the visa from my country of residence. Do I get this right?

I believe that is correct.

[josetxo]

Once you get the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) and arrive in Pakistan, does anyone know how long does it take to get your VOA in the airport (Islamabad)? We plan on flying to Islamabad and then take a flight to Gilgit without leaving the airport. Before booking flights, I would like to know how much time between flights would be needed to complete the process.

Also, I would appreciate updates on the issue of applying for a VOA or an e-visa and leaving Pakistan by land. We are Spanish nationals living in the UK who intend to enter Pakistan via Islamabad airport in August and leave by land to Xinjiang, China. As far as I understood, neither the VOA nor the e-visa would work for us because we plan to leave Pakistan by land...I just hope this situation changes in the following couple of months and we can avoid the hassle of having to get our tourist visas through an embassy...

Thanks!