Pakistan FAQ

Hey Teru, A couple of quick ones for you:

1) Last time you were in Pakistan, did you go on a tourist or journo visa?

I’ve generally travelled on Journalist visas, but as of the last time, switched to a tourist visa, as j-visas for foriegn press are restricted to Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. The exception to that restriction is journalists based in Pakistan, but that’s a lengthy process which would require an office/residence in Pakistan and interviews with Pakistani intelligence before being approved. It’s not impossible to travel outside those areas with the restricted visa, but it may become an issue at checkpoints, or when trying to stay in hotels outside of those cities. If you stay in hotels in Pakistan, expect to have your presence reported to police or intelligence services.

2) From where did you get a letter of invite?

For an “official letter” for a visa application, a letter from a magazine, newspaper, agency, etc should suffice. I’ve never been asked for a letter of invitation from within Pakistan. If you have a problem when dealing with a particular consulate, you can try shopping around with consulates or embassies in other cities or countries.

3) Can you advise on a good, reliable fixer?

http://www.lightstalkers.org/ershad-mahmud

4) Any military embed contacts? Thanks in advance! Best, David

The official channel would be the Interservice Public Relations office in Islamabad -

http://www.ispr.gov.pk/

http://www.ispr.gov.pk/front/main.asp?o=t-pr_contacts&director_id=dgispr

by teru kuwayama at 2009-04-29 21:03:11 UTC (ed. Apr 29 2009 ) NYC , United States | Bookmark | | Report spam→