Pakistan Relocation Index

How Pakistan scores

Functional visa category framework exists and some regulated entry routes are documented. | Long-term planning is possible in some sectors, especially for authorised workers.

• Peace and conflict safety48
• Immigrant safety64
• Visa accessibility49
• Residence permit realism49
• Labor market access58
• Healthcare59
• Civil rights45
• Discrimination safety53
• Status security51
• Infrastructure reliability62
• Cost of living sustainability68

Recent news impact

Recent reporting and government releases indicate tighter, enforcement-oriented treatment of irregular Afghan residents and continued deportation/irregular-foreigner measures (negative for affected immigrant communities and short-term certainty). At the same time, Pakistan has issued migration-management policy guidance and implemented administrative facilitation for certain cross-border travel (limited positives, mainly for legal mobility and for Pakistanis planning emigration rather than broad immigrant safety). Overall, the net short-term relocation outlook worsens slightly due to enforcement risk outweighing administrative improvements.

• Deportation Policy Change

  Interior Ministry directive reported requiring arrest of Afghan nationals without valid visas from July 10, linked to expediting repatriation/deportation under Pakistan’s illegal foreigners repatriation framework—raising near- to medium-term enforcement and detention risk for undocumented residents.

• Residence Policy Change

  Government communication denying targeted, country/sect-specific deportations of Pakistanis from the UAE and asserting deportations (if any) follow host-country legal processes—reducing uncertainty for the Pakistani diaspora, though not eliminating enforcement risk.

• Pro Immigration Reform

  Launch of a National Emigration and Welfare Policy 2026 focused on safe emigration administration, worker protections, complaint redressal, and returnee reintegration—incrementally improving predictability for emigration management and reintegration conditions.

Sources

• UNHCR – Asylum system in PakistanUNHCR
• World Bank – Worldwide Governance Indicators (Rule of Law: Estimate - Pakistan, indicator page)World Bank
• World Bank Group – Strengthening Institutions for Effective Implementation (Decision Note) (PDF)World Bank Group
• Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (DGIP) – Visa Categories (official page)Directorate General of Immigration & Passports (Pakistan)
• USCIRF – Religious Freedom Conditions in Pakistan (country page)U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
• U.S. Department of State – 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: PakistanU.S. Department of State
• UNHCR – Asylum/Protection legal framework: Refugee Status Determination (RSD)UNHCR
• Interior ministry issues directive to arrest Afghan nationals without valid visas from July 10Dawn.com