Additional Interior Secretary Salman Chaudhry confirmed on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals, except for holders of blue and diplomatic passports.
Speaking before the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights, Chaudhry revealed that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE had “stopped short of imposing a ban on the Pakistani passport,” warning that any formal ban would be extremely difficult to reverse.
Pakistan and the UAE enjoy long-standing diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties, with the Emirates serving as one of Pakistan’s biggest trading partners in the Middle East and a key source of remittances due to its large Pakistani expatriate community.
Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, who chairs the committee, separately confirmed the ministry official’s remarks. She said that the visa restrictions were linked to concerns regarding individuals travelling to the UAE and “getting involved in criminal activities.”
Committee members were informed that the UAE had issued very few visas to Pakistanis in recent months, and only after significant difficulty.
