How passenger information reaches Pakistan's border authorities

Stage 1: the visa application

Foreign visitors apply through the Pakistan Online Visa System, which lists visit, business, student, official and work categories ¹. The portal says it is open to citizens of 175 countries ¹.

Dawn reported on 25 July 2024 that, under the federal cabinet decision, visitors would get visas through an electronic travel authorisation form ². The report said a dashboard at the interior ministry would supervise the online visa system ². Dawn did not say who hosts the visa data, and this guide found no official statement on hosting.

Stage 2: emigrant registration for workers

Pakistanis leaving for work abroad register with the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment ³. The Bureau lists an online registration request, a visa, a passport, a CNIC and an employment contract among the documents ³. After checks the record is registered, a registration number is assigned and a Protector sticker is placed on the passport ³.

Stage 3: airline data before the flight

The FBR said on 20 November 2019 that Pakistan Customs launched the Global Travelers Assessment System, a passenger profiling and risk management system ⁶. It said the system uses Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data and was operational at seven major airports, which it did not name ⁶. The FBR said data would be shared with other border agencies through the Customs National Targeting Centre ⁶. It said the World Customs Organization and US Customs and Border Protection gave technical help with deployment ⁶.

On 20 March 2023 Pakistan Customs hosted a two-day national consultation on a UN-backed API and PNR system called goTravel ⁷. The FBR said the workshop would assess Pakistan's current level of API and PNR implementation ⁷. UNODC said on 9 March 2024 that the FIA is the lead agency for the UN Countering Terrorist Travel Programme in Pakistan ⁸. UNODC gave no go-live date for goTravel ⁸.

Stage 4: the immigration counter

The FIA Immigration Wing examines the travel documents of arriving and departing international passengers ⁴. It enforces the Exit Control List, the Provisional National Identification List and related conditions ⁴.

The FIA says its Integrated Border Management System maintains the database built by PISCES, which was set up in 2002 under the FIA with partial US Government help and completed in June 2010 ⁵. The FIA page says the database holds more than 206 million traveller records based on arrivals and departures since 2003 ⁵.

Stage 5: customs on arrival, and what is planned

Arriving travellers must declare goods that may be banned, taxed or subject to duty, according to the FCDO ¹⁰.

Profit reported on 23 April 2026 that a meeting chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi agreed to plan one-window airport clearance with biometric e-gates ⁹. It said the e-gates would link to FIA databases, including exit control lists, passenger records and Interpol systems, starting at Islamabad International Airport ⁹. This is a plan as of that report, not an operating system ⁹.