Pakistani passport
| Pakistani passport | |
|---|---|
 Back cover of a contemporary Pakistani passport | |
 | |
| Type | Passport |
| Issued by |  Ministry of Interior |
| First issued | 14 August 1947; 74 years ago |
| Purpose | Identification |
| Valid in | All countries except Israel |
| Eligibility | Pakistani citizenship |
| Expiration | 5 or 10 years depending on type of acquisition |
| Cost |
|
Pakistani passports (Urdu: پاکستانی پاسپورٹ) are passports issued by the Government of Pakistan to Pakistani citizens and nationals 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 validity for 5 and 10 years.[2] Under national law, Pakistani passports are explicitly invalid for all travel to the State of Israel, and Pakistani nationals are likewise strictly barred from travelling to the Jewish state under all circumstances.
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 then, passports have identity information printed on both the front and back cover ends, and both of these pages are laminated to prevent unlawful modification. In 2004, Pakistan began issuing biometric passports[3] which, however, were not compliant with the United Nations' ICAO standards because they did not carry the "chip inside" symbol (
).[4] Pakistani passports are printed at the DGIP headquarters in the capital city of Islamabad.[5]
Types[]
The Passport Act, 1974 and Passport and Visa Manual (1974) regulate the issuance of Pakistani passports. The Government of Pakistan issues three types of passports to its nationals:[6]
- Diplomatic passports – issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to diplomats and other similarly entitled categories.[7] The outer cover colour of this passport type is red.[8]
- Official passports – issued to senators, members of the National Assembly, provincial ministers, judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and high courts, officers serving with the governments when abroad on official assignments, and other government officials. The outer cover colour of this passport type is blue.[9]
- Ordinary passports – issued to regular Pakistani citizens, the outer cover colour of this passport type is green.[10]
Discontinued types[]
Pakistan formerly issued a special Hajj passport to Pakistani nationals making an Islamic pilgrimage known as Hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These are no longer issued, and ordinary Pakistani passports may now be used for this purpose.
Security features[]
The key security features of the Pakistani passport are:
- PKI – public key infrastructure
- Biometrics, namely facial and fingerprint
- IPI – invisible personal ID
- 2D barcode
- Machine-readable zone (MRZ)
- Security substrate and laminate
- Ultraviolet-feature microprinting
- Holograms
- Watermark paper
- Security ink
- 3-colour intaglio printing
- Guilloché patterns
Physical appearance[]
Ordinary Pakistani passports have a deep green cover with golden-coloured 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 travellers can apply for a passport containing 72 or 100 pages and the fees of fresh/new Pakistani passport has been reduced.
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: 89
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[]
In 2021, Pakistani citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 23 countries and territories.[11]
Pakistani passport fees has been reduced for fresh/new passport.
See also[]
- Visa requirements for Pakistani citizens
- Visa policy of Pakistan
References[]
- ^ "Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan". Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ Directorate General of Immigration & Passports Website Archived 2013-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Administrator. "Multi-Biometric e-Passport". Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- ^ 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
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Types of Passport Archived 2009-12-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Para-45 of the Passport & Visa Manual, 2006
- ^ "Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan". dgip.gov.pk. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ Para-9 of the Passport & Visa Manual, 2006
- ^ "What are the different types of passports issued by the Government of Pakistan? - Quora". www.quora.com. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Pakistan Passport Dashboard | Passport Index 2021". Passport Index - Global Mobility Intelligence. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passports of Pakistan. |
| show Pakistan articles |
|---|
| show Passports |
|---|
| show Nationality laws |
|---|
| show Tourism |
|---|
- Passports by country
- Foreign relations of Pakistan
- Pakistani nationality law