Pakistan E-visa Q&A

[olig]

Hi everyone!

I am wondering whether the entry/exit points are specified on the e-visa.
According to this visa grant notice, it's not... But is this the final paper we get?
I'm asking this because I start to consider an overland trip, entering at Torkham and exiting at Sost, and I wonder if it wouldn't make the things smoother to ask for a Wagah-Sost e-visa.
All in all, proceeding for the Pak visa the same way than for the Chinese visa (at least the same way than most overland travelers willing to go through Xinjiang)...

[simeon-x]

Hi, today I received "Visa Grant Notice" for Pakistani tourist visa. I am citizen of Czech Republic. I submitted application 03.05.2019, I received notice 15.06.2019. You have to be patient

Hi there, I wonder if anyone can help. I am an individual traveller meeting friends in Multan and we are travelling up to Fairy Meadows.

I applied for a Pak tourist visa on 31-05-19 but after 11 days the status is still showing as 'receiving'. It says the processing time is between 7-10 days, so I am getting a bit concerned. I have received the email to say that my application was submitted successfully and my fee went through fine. I have also tried contacting the ministry twice but with no response as yet.

If I don't hear anything back in another week or so, should I apply for a VOA instead/as well? The VOAs seem to be processed much faster from what I have read so far. I would rather avoid this though, as I have already paid the fee!

I might be being a tad impatient

Really appreciate any insight you can offer

Thanks
Claudia

Hi Claudia,

The website states 7-10 working days processing time. June 5th-7th are government holidays in Pakistan so you may have to wait a bit longer.

According to the site's FAQ section: An applicant can make a single application on an individual passport at a time.
So I'm not sure if the system will allow you to make an application for a different visa category on the same passport.

Do let us know if you receive your e-visa, and also any reply from the online visa team.

Best of luck!

[BlueNonoka]

Hi everyone!

I am wondering whether the entry/exit points are specified on the e-visa.
According to this visa grant notice, it's not... But is this the final paper we get?
I'm asking this because I start to consider an overland trip, entering at Torkham and exiting at Sost, and I wonder if it wouldn't make the things smoother to ask for a Wagah-Sost e-visa.
All in all, proceeding for the Pak visa the same way than for the Chinese visa (at least the same way than most overland travelers willing to go through Xinjiang)...

The entry/exit points are not specified on the e-visa. The Visa Grant Notice is the final paper your get.
I believe the immigration officer at the port of entry has access to your application details (since it's all done online now instead of on paper), so they will know the entry/exit points in your application vs your actual entry/exit points.

Months ago when the online visa site was first launched, I asked the online visa support team about change of port of entry. At that time only 5 airports were allowed as entry/exit. My question and their reply below:
Q: If due to certain reasons (for example, flight cancellation) and I need to enter Pakistan by another airport or by land, do I have to re-apply a new visa?
A: You can enter using any airport just approach to FIA counter while you landed such airport for further check in to Pakistan.

[BlueNonoka]

Also for those who have already received the Pakistan e-visa, what was the validity? I have seen one report of 2 months but only one report so i was wondering if it is different for different people.

Here's another report (Chinese language post with image of Visa Grant Notice) and visa validity was 1 month.
http://www.elvxing.net/thread-313216-1-1.html

[s0meguy]

Thank you BlueNonoka.

Does the visa duration field refer to visa validity (how long until you can enter the country) or does it refer to how long you can stay in the country once you entered?

And on the caravanistan page for the pakistan vida it states that the e-visa is for 3 months, but all the mentions of success that I've seen so far have been 30 days. Has anybody gotten 90 days?

Also people when you receive your visa grant please give details like visa validity and how long you can stay in the country. Has somebody applied for a multiple entry visa and if yes what was the result and has anybody applied to enter pakistan from the Iranian land border (Taftan?) And what happened?

Has anybody applied and stated on the form a foreign embassy or consulate for the possible interview, implying that you're not applying from your home country, and what happened? Thank you.

[nazam]

Hi guys.

I applied for a family E-VISA on 12th June 2019 and have received a reply today (19th June 2019).
I'm a UK citizen along with my wife and 2 children.
I've recieved a strange request from the Pak-Visa Team. They want mine and my wife's 'VALID PAK ID' and 'SPOUSE PASSPORT'. I can understand a Spouse Passport but where on earth do we acquire a PAK ID? We're both born in the UK and are of pakistani origin.

Can anyone help?

[HelgaP]

Hi,

I applied for evisa Jun 14 for Entry Port selected Torkham Land Route, got a reply yesterday: Dear Applicant, At present, the Government of Pakistan hasn''t extended the e-visa facility for the travellers trying to enter Pakistan from Torkham & Chamman Borders. However, you may apply for manual visa from the nearest Pakistani Consulate/Embassy or you may change your entry port to Islamabad, Karachi or Lahore.

It looks evisa cannot yet be used at all entry ports they list on their website

[claudiaev]

Hi there, I wonder if anyone can help. I am an individual traveller meeting friends in Multan and we are travelling up to Fairy Meadows.

I applied for a Pak tourist visa on 31-05-19 but after 11 days the status is still showing as 'receiving'. It says the processing time is between 7-10 days, so I am getting a bit concerned. I have received the email to say that my application was submitted successfully and my fee went through fine. I have also tried contacting the ministry twice but with no response as yet.

If I don't hear anything back in another week or so, should I apply for a VOA instead/as well? The VOAs seem to be processed much faster from what I have read so far. I would rather avoid this though, as I have already paid the fee!

I might be being a tad impatient

Really appreciate any insight you can offer

Thanks
Claudia

Hi Claudia,

The website states 7-10 working days processing time. June 5th-7th are government holidays in Pakistan so you may have to wait a bit longer.

According to the site's FAQ section: An applicant can make a single application on an individual passport at a time.
So I'm not sure if the system will allow you to make an application for a different visa category on the same passport.

Do let us know if you receive your e-visa, and also any reply from the online visa team.

Best of luck!

Hi there, thank you so much for your reply, it gave peace of mind.

The online visa team are very very slow at replying but did eventually get back to me.

Unfortunately I am still waiting. I had to go for an interview last week, but have not heard anything since. I was told at the embassy it should be no problem to get the visa through before I fly, but they have not replied to my emails. My flight is next week and I'm not very hopeful I will make it.

I asked the online visa team about it and they just replied that it will be processed in 7-10 days. Would you happen to know if Saturday is classed as a working day, as well as Mon-Fri?

Thank you

Claudia

[olig]

Hi,
I'm super grateful for all of you guys replying on this thread with so many new details.

Hi everyone!

I am wondering whether the entry/exit points are specified on the e-visa.
According to this visa grant notice, it's not... But is this the final paper we get?
I'm asking this because I start to consider an overland trip, entering at Torkham and exiting at Sost, and I wonder if it wouldn't make the things smoother to ask for a Wagah-Sost e-visa.
All in all, proceeding for the Pak visa the same way than for the Chinese visa (at least the same way than most overland travelers willing to go through Xinjiang)...

The entry/exit points are not specified on the e-visa. The Visa Grant Notice is the final paper your get.
I believe the immigration officer at the port of entry has access to your application details (since it's all done online now instead of on paper), so they will know the entry/exit points in your application vs your actual entry/exit points.

Months ago when the online visa site was first launched, I asked the online visa support team about change of port of entry. At that time only 5 airports were allowed as entry/exit. My question and their reply below:
Q: If due to certain reasons (for example, flight cancellation) and I need to enter Pakistan by another airport or by land, do I have to re-apply a new visa?
A: You can enter using any airport just approach to FIA counter while you landed such airport for further check in to Pakistan.

Thanks BlueNonoka all of this is very very helpful and will guide me in my future application!

Hi,

I applied for evisa Jun 14 for Entry Port selected Torkham Land Route, got a reply yesterday: Dear Applicant, At present, the Government of Pakistan hasn''t extended the e-visa facility for the travellers trying to enter Pakistan from Torkham & Chamman Borders. However, you may apply for manual visa from the nearest Pakistani Consulate/Embassy or you may change your entry port to Islamabad, Karachi or Lahore.

It looks evisa cannot yet be used at all entry ports they list on their website

Helga thanks for sharing your experience, Torkham is also the route I'm considering.

Unfortunately I am still waiting. I had to go for an interview last week

So there are cases of visa-appliers being called for an interview. Interesting.

So if I put all our infos in order, and according to what Helga has experienced, it might be tricky to show up at Torkham border with a Pakistani Visa Grant Notice (that they would have had delivered for another entry point), as they might not be technically able to process our visa. At least this is what may implicitly mean their answer to Helga.

Well this e-visa is indeed a big work in progress hey, but I feel (maybe I'm wrong) it's month after month going to the right direction.
Can't wait for more feedbacks (:
Safe travels to all of you guys!

[claudiaev]

Hi Olig,

Yes I was asked to attend an interview and to provide a LOI...contrary to what they are saying about the process so far.

—Claudia