The Foreign Office on Monday announced that Sweden has announced to resume visa services in Islamabad and Pakistani nationals will now be able to apply for a Schengen visa from Pakistan.
Sweden in April 2023 indefinitely closed its embassy in Islamabad citing the security situation as the reason. As a result, the migration section was unable to handle requests, nor could any document be sent to consulates. We understand that this will cause inconvenience; however, the safety of our applicants and staff members is of the highest priority, a notice placed on the embassy’s website read at the time. The embassy has now reopened in April this year, according to its website.
According to the Foreign Office, the Swedish and Pakistan foreign ministries held a bilateral consultation in Stockholm on July 2, where the Swedish side announced the decision to resume visa services.
The Foreign Office of Pakistan added that the Additional Foreign Secretary of Europe led the Pakistani delegation to the bilateral consultations in Stockholm, while the Director General for Global Affairs led the Swedish side from the Swedish Foreign Ministry.
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“The Pakistani delegation to the Bilateral Consultations in Stockholm was led by the Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe), while the Director General headed the Swedish side for Global Affairs from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the statement from the Foreign Office of Pakistan read further.
“Effective July 7, 2025, Pakistani nationals can apply for a Schengen visa from within Pakistan for visits to Sweden of up to 90 days,” the FO said.
“Pakistan welcomes this positive development, which reflects the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries.”
Meanwhile, the government is also working on clearing visa issues with other countries as well, including UAE and Saudi Arabia. In the past few months, Pakistan, a lot of Pakistanis have been complaining about visa issues when applying to various countries, especially in the Gulf countries. The government says they are adamant about sorting out these issues with respective countries.