ISLAMABAD: Amid directives for strict screening of passengers coupled with prevailing visa hurdles, the federal government has decided to formulate a new policy to address the existing issues and difficulties faced in obtaining a visa, The News reported on Wednesday.

For this purpose, the federal cabinet has formed a cabinet committee on the visa clearance regime. Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar has been appointed as the head of the six-member committee.

The committee will prepare recommendations to make the visa process easy, transparent and secure. It will submit its report to the federal cabinet within 14 days.

According to government sources, besides the law minister, the members of the committee established regarding the visa clearance regime include Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik and the federal law and interior secretaries.

The Interior Ministry will provide secretarial support to the committee.

The federal government recently approved a new visa clearance system as part of reforms in Pakistan’s visa and travel clearance system.

The objective of the new system is to make the visa acquisition process more transparent, secure and efficient for Pakistani citizens abroad.

The decision has been made in the context of illegal migration, counterfeit travel documents and stricter internal laws by various countries.

A day earlier, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates UAE) have agreed to sign a “pre-immigration clearance” agreement, allowing the UAE-bound travellers to complete clearance in Pakistan and exit the airport directly, similar to domestic passengers in the Gulf nation.

The development came during a meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and a UAE delegation led by Al Dara Border Crossing Customs Director General Ahmed Abdullah Bin Lahej Al Falasi.

The initiative comes against the backdrop of the offloading of passengers owing to improper, incomplete documentation in recent months, in the light of stern measures implemented by the authorities to curb human trafficking and illegal travel abroad.

The prospects of a new visa-related policy come against the backdrop of the offloading of passengers owing to improper, incomplete documentation in recent months, in light of stern measures implemented by the authorities to curb human trafficking and illegal travel abroad.

Earlier this month, the government also launched “Pre-Departure Facilitation Desks” for assisting passengers travelling abroad.

The measures are to be taken in the context of a large number of Pakistanis travelling abroad, where the data released by the Bureau of Immigration, as reported by the publication earlier, shows that more than 727,000 Pakistanis migrated overseas for employment in 2025. The figures reveal that the exodus spans all skill levels.

Over 400,000 unskilled and more than 200,000 skilled workers secured jobs abroad in 2025, underscoring the scale of labour migration. Saudi Arabia remained the top destination by a wide margin, absorbing the bulk of Pakistani workers.

Overall, the breakdown shows 222,171 skilled, 42,257 semi-skilled and 466,062 unskilled workers leaving the country in 2025. In terms of destinations, Saudi Arabia accounted for more than 530,000 workers, followed by Qatar (68,376), the UAE (52,664) and Bahrain (37,726). Smaller numbers headed to Kuwait, the United States, the UK, Germany, Italy, China, Japan and Romania, while only a handful migrated to countries such as South Korea.