The United Arab Emirates has suspended the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens amid concerns that an increasing number of applicants were engaging in criminal activities after entering the country, senior Pakistani officials have confirmed..png)
The development was disclosed by Pakistan’s Additional Interior Secretary, Salman Chaudhry, during a meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights. Chaudhry warned that once such a ban is enforced, “it becomes extremely difficult to have it lifted,” according to a report by Dawn.
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Overseas Employment Promoter Aisam Baig informed the committee that UAE authorities were particularly alarmed by the behaviour of Pakistanis arriving on visit visas, noting that some were resorting to begging once inside the country. Currently, the UAE is issuing visas only to holders of blue (official) and diplomatic passports.
Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, who chairs the Senate committee, confirmed that only a limited number of Pakistani citizens have recently been granted visas, and that too “after significant difficulty.”
Growing Restrictions Across the Gulf
The UAE’s latest decision follows a wider pattern of tightening immigration rules across Gulf nations. In December 2024, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf states imposed an indefinite ban on issuing visas to people from more than 30 Pakistani cities. The restrictions were linked to a surge in cases involving Pakistani nationals being caught begging, smuggling, trafficking drugs, engaging in human trafficking, and committing other criminal offences abroad.
Earlier, the UAE had already made police-issued character certificates mandatory for visa applicants, signalling increasing scrutiny of travellers.
Podcaster Nadir Ali, speaking in a recent interview, said Gulf nations had grown increasingly cautious:
“Saudi Arabia and Dubai were once popular destinations, but they have now stopped issuing visas. Even I faced serious difficulty when I needed to travel for the IIFA Awards. Saudi Arabia has issued warnings to Pakistan over the growing number of beggars being apprehended.”
A Key Relationship Under Strain
The UAE remains one of Pakistan’s largest trading partners in the Middle East and is home to a substantial Pakistani expatriate population. Every year, more than 800,000 Pakistanis apply for visas to Gulf and Middle Eastern countries for employment and travel.
The visa restrictions pose a significant challenge for Pakistani workers and businesses, and Islamabad is expected to engage with UAE authorities in an effort to resolve the issue.
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