Pakistani passport

Pakistani passports (Urdu: پاکستانی پاسپورٹ‎) are issued to Pakistani citizens for the purpose of international travel. They are issued by the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGIP) of the Ministry of Interior[1] from regional passport offices and Pakistani embassies. Since January 2014, Pakistani passports have been valid for 5 or 10 years.[2] Under Pakistani law, Pakistani passports are not valid for travel to Israel.

Pakistani passport
پاکستانی پاسپورٹ
The front cover of a contemporary Pakistani passport.
Current Pakistani passport. (Areas containing personal information are grayed out.)
TypePassport
Issued by Ministry of Interior
First issued14 August 1947
PurposeIdentification
Valid inAll countries except Israel
EligibilityPakistani citizenship
Expiration5 and 10 Years
Cost₨3000 (US$19) - 5 Years Validity
₨5400 (US$34)- 10 Years Validity

Pakistani passports are machine-readable and biometric. Until 2004, Pakistani passports had the bearers particulars written by hand, with the passport picture glued to the cover page. Since 2004, passports have identity information printed on both front and back cover ends. Both of these pages are laminated to prevent modification. In 2004, Pakistan began issuing biometric passports[3] which, however, were not compliant with ICAO standards because they did not carry the "chip inside" symbol ().[4] Pakistani passports are printed in DGIP headquarters in Islamabad.[5]

Types

The Passport Act, 1974 and Passport and Visa Manual 1974 regulate the issuance of passports. Pakistan issues three types of passports:[6]

  • Diplomatic passports - issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to diplomats and other entitled categories.[7]
  • Official passports - issued to senators, members of the National Assembly, provincial ministers, judges of the supreme/high courts, officers serving with the governments when abroad on official assignments etc. The outer cover color is blue.[8]
  • Ordinary passports - the outer cover color is green.

A special Hajj passport was formerly issued to those making a hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These are no longer issued, and ordinary passports may now be used for the hajj.

Security features

The key features of Pakistan passport are:

  • PKI – public key infrastructure
  • Biometric features namely facial and fingerprint
  • IPI- invisible personal ID
  • 2D bar code
  • Machine-readable zone (MRZ)
  • Security substrate and laminate
  • Ultra-violet features micro-printing
  • Holograms
  • Watermark paper
  • Security ink
  • 3 colour intaglio printing
  • Guilloche patterns

Physical appearance
Pakistani passports contain a note that the passport cannot be used for travel to Israel

Ordinary Pakistani passports have a deep green cover with golden-colored content. The Emblem of Pakistan is emblazoned in the center of the front cover. The words 'Islamic Republic of Pakistan' (English) are inscribed above the emblem and 'Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکستان‎', 'Urdu: پاسپورٹ‎' and 'Passport' (English) are inscribed below the emblem. The standard passport contains 36 pages, but frequent travelers can apply for a passport containing 72 or 100 pages.

Passport holder identity
  • The opening cover end contains the following information:
    • Photo of passport holder
    • Type 'P'- stands for "Personal", 'D'- stands for "Diplomat", - S'- stands for "Service"
    • Country Code
    • Passport number
    • Surname
    • Given name
    • Nationality
    • Date of birth
    • Citizenship number
    • Gender
    • Place of birth
    • Father name
    • Date of issue
    • Date of expiry
    • Issuing authority
    • Tracking number
    • Booklet number
  • 1st page of regular booklet contains the note from President of Pakistan (mentioned later).
  • 2nd page mentions ANNOTATION on the top and contains the following
    • Religion
    • Previous passport number (if any)
    • Signature of the passport holder
  • 3rd page declares that the passport is valid to travel to all countries of the world except Israel.

Passport in 1948

301 Shares The Henley Passport Index (HPI) – an annual global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom of their citizens – placed the Pakistani passport at #102 in its 2019 list of most and least powerful passports of the world list.

HPI has been compiling and issuing this list since 2006 which ranks and lists passports from over a hundred countries according to the number of destinations the citizens of these countries can visit without obtaining a visa.

Pakistan’s passport has continuously found itself lingering in the bottom half of the list. Even though global passport rankings were introduced in 2006, it is believed that if the strength of the country’s passport before 2006 was to be explored by using the HPI ranking and scoring model, the Pakistani passport – from 1961 till 1974 – would have been one of the top 30 passports of the world.

Passport Ranking By Period

Pakistani Passport HPI Rankings 2006-2017

2006: 79

2007: 83

2008: 87

2009: 87

2010: 90

2011: 99

2012: 100

2013: 91

2014: 92

2015: 103

2016: 103

2017: 102

Passport note

The passports contain a note from the President of Pakistan addressing the authorities of all states, identifying the bearer as a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and requesting and requiring that the bearer be allowed to pass freely without any hindrance and be assisted and protected in any need. The note inside of Pakistani passports states:

Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan requires & requests in the name of President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan all those to whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

Director General Immigration & Passports.

Visa requirements
Main article: Visa requirements for Pakistani citizens
Visa requirements for holders of regular Pakistani passports
  Islamic Republic of Pakistan
  Visa free access
  Visa issued upon arrival
  Electronic authorisation or eVisa required
  Visa available both on arrival or online
  Visa required prior to arrival

In 2021, Pakistani citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 21 countries and territories.

See also

References
  1. "Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan". Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  2. Directorate General of Immigration & Passports Website Archived 2013-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Administrator. "Multi-Biometric e-Passport". Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  4. ICAO website Machine-Readable travel documents, specifications for electronically enabled MRtds with biometric identification capacity (doc 9303 part 3 vol 2) Archived 2010-11-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-07-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Types of Passport Archived 2009-12-09 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Para-45 of the Passport & Visa Manual, 2006
  8. Para-9 of the Passport & Visa Manual, 2006
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