Penalty For Overstaying Visa In Pakistan

Have you overstayed your Visa? That’s not good. You could be issued a penalty of Rs. 20,000/- or 4 years imprisonment or both under Pakistani law.

Are you an expatriate staying in Pakistan without a visa or a foreign national? If yes, you may have the reason to get worried about your stay in Pakistan. Now, just because you do not hold any visa or don’t possess the passport of this country does not mean that you are subject to be deported from Pakistan. This act incurs heavy penalties, and if you fail to pay these penalties, you might have to face imprisonment. The following is a list of penalties applicable on overstaying visa in Pakistan.

There are some very strict rules in Pakistan which you need to know before you consider overstaying your visa. So, if you want to enter and stay on Pakistan for more than the duration of your visa, then it is important that you study the rules carefully.

Penalty For Overstaying Visa In Pakistan

In Pakistan several categories of the foreign nationals are entitled for different periods of visa upon arrival which allows them to stay in the country for a specific duration. Foreign nationals who overstay their visa period are considered as illegal immigrants and are punishable under the section 10c of the Pakistan Immigration Ordinance 1962.

Can I overstay my Pakistan visa?

Though overstaying any country’s visa is technically illegal and should not be taken lightly, the penalties for overstaying a Pakistan visa are quite lax for many nationalities.

Those who overstay a Pakistan tourist visa will be required to pay a fine based on how long they overstay their Pakistan visa. As of 2020, the fines for foreign nationals of non-Pakistani origins are as follows:

• Less than 2 weeks overstay: Free
• 2-4 weeks overstay: US$50
• 4 weeks to 3 months overstay: $200
• 3 months to 1 year: $400/year
• More than 1 year: Bro, go get a visa extension already. Okay okay that’s my advice, not official advice.

Note that fees are different for overseas Pakistanis. Indian nationals must pay Rs. 40 per day of overstay… though if you’re on an Indian passport overstaying your visa, the intelligence agency is probably going to find you long before you have to start calculating overstay fees.

Policies change, so make sure to check the official immigration website for more information on Pakistan visas and overstays.

What happens if I overstay my Pakistan tourist visa?

Here’s the tricky part: though the official fine rules are quite straightforward, there’s a lot of variation in  how visa overstays are handled at borders. As with many things in Pakistan, a lot depends on the mood of the border official that day. And often your nationality/how white you are.

In recent years, there are two common situations:

• You either pay nothing or pay the fine at the border and are allowed to exit. This is common at airports and at land border crossings for short overstays of a few days. Border crossings further away from passport offices where you can get visa extensions (such as the Khunjerab Pass to China or the Taftan border crossing with Iran) are more likely to let you through.
• You’re turned back at the border and asked to get a visa extension or exit permit. This is more common at the Wagah border crossing with India, close to Lahore. Though officials are slowly relaxing more about overstays in recent years, they do still ask tourists to go back to Lahore to get a visa extension or exit permit from time to time.

Regardless of how your exit attempt plays out, based on the reports of tourists in recent years, overstaying your Pakistan visa does NOT affect your ability to get a new Pakistan tourist visa in the future, nor will it cancel a multi-entry visa.

Reports from travelers who overstayed their Pakistan visas

Nothing in Pakistan is ever totally certain. Policies—and moods—change all the time. Recent firsthand accounts are the best source of travel information in Pakistan, so here are some reports from recent travelers who overstayed or extended their Pakistan visas:

Are you planning on extending or overstaying? Please let me know how it goes in the comments!

2019

• May: American passport (me!), 14 day overstay, exited from Lahore airport – Needed exit permit from Ministry of Interior in Islamabad, asked for it at airport
• May: Irish passport, 1 day overstay, exited from Lahore airport – No penalty
• September: Belgian passport, 7 day overstay, exited at Wagah border – Sent back to apply for new visa in Lahore (US$20, 1 day)
• September: Australian passport, 7 day overstay, exited at Khunjerab Pass – No penalty (brought screenshot of overstay fees to show official)
• September: American passport, 3 months overstay, exited at Lahore airport – Paid $200 fine at airport
• October: American passport (me!), 17 day overstay, exited from Lahore airport – No penalty
• October: Polish passport, 4 day overstay, exited from Lahore airport – No penalty
• October: Swiss passport, 10 day overstay, exited at Wagah border – No penalty

2018

• May: Italian passport, 1 day overstay, exited from Lahore airport – No penalty
• September: US passport, 1 day overstay, exited from Lahore airport – No penalty

Young boys fishing near Phander Valley in Gilgit Baltistan

Should I extend my Pakistan visa?

If you’re planning on staying in Pakistan for several weeks or months longer than expected, I recommend getting a visa extension. Better safe than sorry, and you never know when having an expired visa might be problematic at checkpoint or hotel.

It’s also important to remember that it’s a privilege to be able to even consider overstaying at all – think of what would happen to a Pakistani overstaying their visa in your home country! (The answer: they’d get screwed and never be allowed back.)

Extending a Pakistan tourist visa is quite easy for many nationalities; there’s no real reason not to do it.

What’s the difference between getting a Pakistan visa extension and an exit permit?

Ah, weird bureaucratic nuances!

A visa extension is what it sounds like: an extension of the validity of your visa to a further date.

An exit permit is permission from immigration to leave the country. It’s like an acknowledgement that you overstayed your visa, but immigration doesn’t have a problem with it.

Exit permits are useful for shorter overstays of less than a month. If you have an exit permit, you won’t have to pay any overstay fees and you won’t have to worry about being stopped when trying to exit the country. Most nationalities (Americans being a notable exception) can apply for exit permits in any passport office that handles visa extensions. Americans can only apply for exit permits in Islamabad.

Lake views while trekking in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat Valley

Extending a Pakistan tourist or entry visa

How you extend your Pakistan visa depends on your nationality and the type of visa you have.

When to extend your visa

You can extend your visa at any time, even if the visa has already expired. However, some officials might be difficult if you try to extend your visa too far before its expiration date. Either wait until it’s nearly expired, or be pushy and insist that you won’t be able to extend later on because of your travel plans.

How long are visa extensions for?

Visa extensions can be for up to six months. However, sometimes officials will not want to give you an extension longer than your original visa length. For longer visa extensions, try applying at the Ministry of the Interior in Islamabad.

How much does a visa extension cost?

Visa extension prices vary by nationality and type of visa. Many European travelers have reported paying $20 for what is essentially a new visa. However, on my US and UK passports I’ve had to pay more than $150 for a new visa.

Extending a Pakistan tourist e-visa

If you have an e-visa for Pakistan, you can now get a visa extension online. Using the same NADRA visa portal that you used to apply for your original e-visa, you can apply for a visa extension.

Note: You have to start by applying for a new e-visa, then selecting “Extension” as the application type.

To apply for an online visa extension, you’ll again need to submit several documents including:

• LOI (Letter of invitation) or hotel booking proving your onwards stay in Pakistan. If you applied for your first visa using hotel bookings, you can do so with the visa extension. If you used an LOI, it’s probably best to get a new LOI and submit that with your extension request.
• A photo of your current Pakistan entry stamp, with your e-visa number written near it.
• PDF of your original e-visa.

If your information is correct and your documents are successfully submitted, you should receive email confirmation of your visa extension within a few days.

For a step-by-step guide to applying for an e-visa extension online, see this useful guide from Monkey Rock World. There’s also a forum thread about Pakistan e-visa extension reports at Caravanistan.

Extending a traditional sticker/paper visa

If you entered Pakistan on a traditional visa (a sticker inside your passport), you’ll need to go to the visa section of a local “passport office” to apply for a visa extension.

Every major city—Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, etc.—has a passport office. However, not all of them are willing to work with tourist visas. Travelers have repeatedly reported being turned away in Peshawar and Gilgit. (And, weirdly enough, I heard a success story from a tourist in notoriously complicated Multan.)

Lahore and Islamabad are the safest options, and their office addresses are as follows:

• Lahore: Passport Office, 4 A Shershah Block, Garden Town, Lahore (Google Maps)
• Islamabad: Visa counter, Ministry of Interior, Pakistan Secretariat (Google Maps)

Lahore is traditionally the easiest place to extend your Pakistan visa. The officials there are friendly and very familiar with the process and dealing with foreign tourists. Islamabad is the most chaotic, bureaucratic, and slow place to extend your visa. Avoid unless you have to.

If you want a step-by-step guide to getting a visa extension in Lahore, read the guide at the end of this blog post.

Pakistan visa extensions for Americans and other “problematic” nationalities

Most nationalities don’t have to think too much about this, but US citizens have a bit more bureaucracy to deal with when it comes to extensions.

Note: I do not have firsthand experience, but I imagine these restrictions also apply to other sensitive nationalities (ex. Indian, Afghan)

In my experience, Americans can only apply for visa extensions and exit permits in Islamabad, at the visa counter of the Ministry of the Interior (inside the Pakistan Secretariat). Lahore and other passport offices do not have the required permissions to issue visa extensions to US passport holders.

Why? Probably because Pakistan’s agencies are paranoid about spies and Americans are of particular suspicion after a US consulate employee turned out to be a CIA official and killed several people in the country in 2011.

Whatever the reason, Americans, just know you have to handle all of your visa bureaucracy in Islamabad.