Pakistan has formalized new double citizenship schemes with 22 countries under the Pakistan Citizenship (Change (Change) 2024, allowing its citizens to preserve Pakistani citizenship even after acquiring nationality in these countries.
The Directorate -General of Immigration and Passport, a subdivision of the Ministry of the Interior, confirmed that Pakistani citizens will no longer be obliged to waive their Pakistani nationality if they receive citizenship from any of the 22 designated countries.
This marks a significant deviation from the previous policy under which only a few selected countries had such agreements with Pakistan.
The bill is approved by the National Assembly’s standing committee and is expected to be fully implemented after the final parliamentary approval.
The Ministry of Ministry managed under a recent briefing that many countries require evidence of rejection of citizenship before awarding new nationality, creating complications for Pakistanis abroad. The change aims to resolve these issues and reintroduce citizenship rights for persons concerned.
Director General of Passport and Immigration Mustafa Jamal Qazi confirmed that formal agreements are now in place with countries across Europe, the Middle East, North America and Oceania.
He emphasized that double nationals will no longer face legal obligations to abandon their Pakistani citizenship when acquiring citizenship in these states.
Among the countries now included in the agreement are the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Belgium, Iceland, New Zealand, Finland, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Bahrain, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Luxembourg.
The United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia were already part of existing double nationality schemes with Pakistan, while the rest represent new additions.
Pakistan has also begun to work against a similar agreement with Turkiye. A draft proposal is reviewed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior, after Turkiye’s proposal to enable mutual double citizenship rights between the two countries.
