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I'm an Aussie and am already travelling in Asia right now. I'm considering the possibility of overlanding through Pakistan.

Now rules for getting visas can change pretty frequently and Pakistan is not the most settled part of the world right now, so I feel like all my reading on the Internet is giving me a mix of different answers when I look for this sort of thing. I didn't turn up anything from a traveller there in 2014 though.

Firstly it's not even clear I can apply for a visa from another country. I'm not going back to Australia to apply (-:

Secondly some sources made it seem that Pakistan doesn't issue visas for people to enter by land anyway, but that could be one of the things that varies by nationality and by year.

I've looked at the Pakistan embassy site in Australia, but it seems aimed purely at people in Australia planning to fly directly to Pakistan and back again.

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  • Can't see that it is possible. Maybe email enquiry@pakistan.org.au and see what they say? – CGCampbell Nov 26 '14 at 16:39
  • There are no specific overland visas in Pakistan, maybe that it the point of confusion. It would help if you can narrow it down to where you are expecting to apply for the visa. – Burhan Khalid Dec 17 '14 at 12:10
  • @BurhanKhalid: At the moment my route is set for Cambodia -> Vietnam -> China. If I can get a Pakistan visa in one of these three countries, then I will consider it seriously. – hippietrail Mar 3 '15 at 10:43
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Unfortunately you cannot.

In order to obtain a visa to Pakistan from a country to which you do not hold citizenship, you need to have a permanent resident status; in other words - if you are in China, Vietnam or Cambodia on a visitor/tourist visa - you cannot apply for a visa to Pakistan.

This is stated plainly at the Embassy of Pakistan in China's website:

Note:

Nationals of other countries visiting China ( as visitors, tourists) are advised to apply for visa at the Pakistani Embassy in their country of residence or the Pakistani Embassy concurrently accredited to their country.

VISAS CANNOT BE ISSUED TO THIRD COUNTRY NATIONALS NOT IN POSESSION OF THE RESIDENT / WORK PERMIT OF CHINA.

This is further confirmed from Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (the govt. agency for tourism) it states an exception but in my experience this is rarely granted (and only on humanitarian/emergency basis).

Foreign nationals can only apply for Pakistan visa from their country of origin OR from the place of legal permanent residence. Request for visas of a THIRD COUNTRY origin will be decided only by the Ambassador / High Commissioner / Head of Mission / Consulate.

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  • Are you sue you have to be a permanent resident? Russia has a similar rule and I recently found out that having a one year business visa for Cambodia gives you resident status by Russia's rules. Also sometimes the rules are not uniform across all embassies and consulates in all countries. There are Pakistan embassies in Cambodia and Vietnam too. Finally sometimes there's a way by sending your passport home to some agent. But for Pakistan there's less info I can find than for Russia or some other countries I've looked into in the past. – hippietrail Mar 3 '15 at 14:07
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    Its either permanent resident or work visa (as far as the Pakistani authorities are concerned). You could send your passport to an agent, but sometimes an in-person interview is requested (personally, I would not recommend the agent route). – Burhan Khalid Mar 3 '15 at 18:14

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