FIA plans immigration automation with e-gates

Pakistan handled more than 22.65 million international passengers in 2025, stressing the need for upgrading immigration facilities at the country’s airports.

Official data shows that a total of 22,650,199 international passenger movements were recorded during last year. Of these, 11,097,240 were arrivals, while 11,552,959 were departures.

The scale of passenger traffic was also evident in the daily figures. On the day covered by the data, 51,517 passengers travelled through Pakistan’s international entry and exit points on 295 arriving and departing flights.

Six major airports handled 49,181 passenger movements through 285 flights. The remaining 2,336 passengers and 10 flights were recorded at other international entry and exit points.

With passenger traffic continuing to grow, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is moving towards a more technology-driven immigration system.

Speaking to an English daily, Additional Director General Immigration Nouman Siddiqui said that the agency, under FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar, was implementing a plan aimed at making travel easier for genuine passengers while improving efforts to stop illegal migration and the use of fraudulent documents.

A major part of the plan is the introduction of automated e-gates, which are initially being tested through a pilot project. Eligible passengers, including people holding work permits and those whose credentials can be verified digitally, will be able to complete immigration checks through the automated system.

He said that the use of automated processing could reduce immigration clearance time for eligible travellers by 70 to 80 per cent.