The federal cabinet has approved changes to the visa rules which introducenew policies regarding the need for visas for work and health emergencies,as well as the reduction of the total number of categories from 18 to 11,it emerged on Monday.
A letter shared by the Ministry of Interior to the director-general (DG) ofImmigration and Passports shows that the cabinet approved theaforementioned changes on Feburary 2.
Based on the merging of the previous categories, the new types of visasare tourist/visit visa, visa in your inbox for tourism or businesspurposes, family visit visa, business visa, work visa, studyvisa, religious tourism visa, official visa, NGO/INGO visa, medical visaand other.
Visa in your inbox can be applied for online and the confirmation would begiven in the candidate’s email.
While the letter itself did not explicitly state there was a medical visa,interior ministry spokesperson Zafaryab Khan confirmed the category to alocal news station. Elaborating on the details, security clearance wouldnot be required for those seeking a short-term medical visa or anindividual work visa. However, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) would beintimated.
These short-term medical visas would be approved or denied within a 48 hourperiod and would allow a single-entry within a 3-month time frame.Moreover, the visa holder would only be allowed to go to certain hospitals,and other security checks would be put into place.
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An extended medical visa of up to one year, meanwhile, would be issuedwithin a month after clearance from agencies. ISI, FIA and IB would also beintimated.
A similar time frame for application approval, agency intimation, andperiod allowed within the country would apply to those coming in on ashort-term work visa. In this regard, the candidates would also be asked toshare employment letter, undertaking of company letterhead, companyprofile, applicant’s resume, cover letter on company’s letterhead andregistration of the company on the Securities and Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP).
The spokesperson therein stressed that all unneeded and superfluousdocuments had been removed from the application process to make it easierfor people.
Security clearance, however, would be required if an individual, who hasbeen issued a single-entry work visa, seeks an extension. The applicantwould also be required to submit a BOI letter of recommendation. Anextension of up to two years with multiple entries may be granted.
