Pakistani authorities have suspended the issuance of visa extensions for Afghan nationals and intensified arrests of undocumented migrants, sources said on Tuesday.
The move, which has not been publicly announced, reportedly followed the arrest of several Interior Ministry officials in a corruption probe two weeks ago. Since then, Afghan nationals say they have been unable to renew their visas through formal government channels.
Several Afghans currently residing in Pakistan said they are now forced to seek visa renewals through unofficial intermediaries, often at exorbitant prices. In some cases, individuals are paying between $600 and $1,100 to obtain an extension outside the Interior Ministry’s system.
“This has become an unbearable burden,” said one Afghan resident. “Not only are we struggling to survive, but now we’re being extorted just to avoid arrest.”
At the same time, Afghan communities in cities such as Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Karachi report an uptick in police raids, house-to-house checks, and threats of forced deportation. Residents say officers regularly appear at their doors, demanding to see valid documentation — and in some cases, detaining those without it.
This crackdown comes as Pakistan continues to host one of the world’s largest Afghan refugee populations. As of July 2025, more than 1.75 million Afghans are living in Pakistan, including roughly 1.4 million holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards. Most of those documents expired in June, and Islamabad has yet to confirm whether an extension will be granted.
Since launching a broad repatriation campaign in late 2023, Pakistani authorities have deported more than one million Afghans, according to aid groups and human rights monitors. The halt in visa extensions now threatens to push even more people into undocumented status — exposing them to arrest and forced return.
For many Afghans, the new restrictions have created a sense of fear and displacement. “We left our country to find safety,” said one Afghan woman in Peshawar. “Now, we live in fear of a knock at the door.”
Despite mounting pressure, Pakistani authorities have not issued any official statement on the visa freeze. Afghan nationals, meanwhile, remain caught between two borders — unwanted in one country and unsafe in the other.
