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The agreement was inked by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar for Pakistan and Prince Faisal bin Farhan for Saudi Arabia during their meeting in New York. It eliminates the need for visas for holders of diplomatic, official and special passports from either country. Pakistan’s Foreign Office stated that the move is designed to ease official travel and deepen bilateral institutional ties.
Dar announced the development through a post on X where he detailed signing the “Agreement between Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the abolition of visa requirements for holders of Diplomatic and Official/Special Passports.” “This important step will further facilitate high-level engagement and institutional exchanges, and contribute to advancing our enduring and brotherly strategic partnership across all areas of mutual interest,” Dar said. The Pakistani minister shared an image of the signing ceremony with his Saudi counterpart.
The pact follows a joint defence agreement signed in August by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye that commits the three nations to bolster collective security and regional stability, Dawn reported. Such diplomatic steps reflect the frequent high-level contacts that have defined relations between Islamabad and Riyadh in recent years. The countries continue to coordinate closely on matters ranging from security to economic development.
Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia totaled $4.75 billion in fiscal year 2025-26 with imports from the kingdom reaching $4.06 billion and Pakistani exports amounting to $687 million, according to figures compiled by Profit Pakistan Today. The two governments have agreed to raise Pakistan’s agricultural and food exports to the kingdom to $3 billion over the next two years after identifying rice, red meat and fruits as priority sectors. DataSaudi reported that Saudi non-oil exports to Pakistan in mid-2026 were led by plastics and chemicals.
Pakistan aims to send one million workers to Saudi Arabia by 2030 under the Saudi-Pakistan Economic Cooperation Framework that supports the kingdom’s Vision 2030 program, the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment indicated. More than 530,000 Pakistanis traveled to the kingdom for jobs in 2025 alone, making up the bulk of officially recorded overseas deployments that year. The new visa waiver for officials is expected to complement these labor flows and related training initiatives.
Saudi authorities have taken earlier steps to ease entry for Pakistanis including a multiple-entry Umrah visa launched in July with validity of one year and relaxed tourist visa rules introduced in 2024 that accept a minimum monthly bank balance equivalent to $750, according to Dawn. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains a list of countries with which it holds similar visa abolition arrangements for diplomatic and official passport holders. The latest agreement with Saudi Arabia adds to this network of facilitations that streamline government-to-government interactions.
