Where can Pakistani citizens move to?
Ranked by what the move actually takes on a Pakistani passport specifically, not in general. Every rating below comes from the same verified data as the full guide it links to.
You keep your Pakistani passport if you naturalise in 6 of these 12. Naturalising in Costa Rica, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Thailand would mean giving it up.
No working-holiday route is open on a Pakistani passport in any of these 12. That shortcut is not on the table.
Easiest to keep driving on in Costa Rica, Portugal and Thailand. Each guide has the exact terms. Elsewhere expect more steps, often a full local test.
An apostille is accepted in 10 of these 12. the Netherlands and Thailand still need the full consular legalisation chain, so start earlier.
Moderate 10 of 12
- AustraliaPakistanis mostly arrive through skilled visas (engineering and IT) and the student-to-PR pathway, supplemented by a well-established family-visa stream.Moderate
- CanadaPakistan sits around eighth among source countries, with an unusually strong family-class share alongside Express Entry.Moderate
- Costa RicaPakistanis relocating today are almost all Rentista or Inversionista residents who arrange status before travel, given how restrictive the entry-visa process is.Moderate
- IrelandPakistanis come to Ireland mostly via employment permits in ICT and healthcare plus a smaller student pipeline, with credential attestation through Pakistan's HEC as the standard first step.Moderate
- ItalyPakistanis relocate to Italy chiefly through the Decreto Flussi work-permit quota — Pakistan has one of Italy's largest and longest-established migrant communities, concentrated in logistics, agriculture and food processing — plus family reunification.Moderate
- JapanMost Pakistanis in Japan arrived through the used-car export trade and small business ownership, with newer arrivals on Specified Skilled Worker or Engineer/Specialist in Humanities visas.Moderate
- New ZealandPakistani migration to NZ runs mainly through the Skilled Migrant Category (IT, engineering, medicine) and family/partnership visas, with a smaller but steady international-student pipeline.Moderate
- PortugalPakistanis arrive mostly through work visas in construction, logistics, and delivery/gig-economy sectors, part of a fast-growing South Asian labour-migration wave into Lisbon over the last decade.Moderate
- SpainWork-visa sponsorship (particularly in agriculture and hospitality via bilateral labor migration channels), family reunification, and a student-visa route are the common paths in.Moderate
- United StatesA mix of H-1B (via IT staffing firms), family-based sponsorship (Pakistan is not eligible for the Diversity Visa lottery); employment-based green card categories carry the same India/China-style per-country backlog pressure at a smaller scale.Moderate
Complex 2 of 12
- NetherlandsPakistanis move mainly via the Kennismigrant visa in IT, family reunification, and a growing pipeline of international students converting to the orientation-year (zoekjaar) visa after graduation.Complex
- ThailandMost Pakistanis relocate via a Thai-employer-sponsored work permit (trade, textiles, IT) since a visa must be secured before travel; smaller numbers use the DTV or education routes.Complex
Ratings weigh entry class, working-holiday access, licence exchange, dual citizenship and document legalisation. Each is checked against the issuing government. Open any destination for the full guide written for Pakistani citizens.