Business visas from Pakistan, country by country

A business visa is for doing business with someone abroad, not for working there. Meetings, negotiations, conferences, trade fairs and site visits fit. Being paid by a company in that country, or doing the work yourself, generally does not — and every country draws that line slightly differently.

1. 01

   A checkable invitation

   Naming you, your role, the dates and the purpose, from a host whose registration can be checked.

2. 02

   Your own company, on paper

   Registration, tax records and bank position, showing the business is real and can pay for the trip.

3. 03

   Business, not work

   A purpose that stays on the right side of the line between doing business and working.

4. 04

   Time before the event

   Enough for the visa to be decided. Fixed dates are the ones that get missed.

The UK, Canada, Australia, the Schengen states and the US handle business trips through their visitor visas, where your invitation and company documents make it a business application. China's M visa and Saudi Arabia's business visit visa build the invitation into the visa itself. Each guide says which kind its country uses.

The host has to be real, and so does your business. A host the officer cannot match to a registered company, or a business with no trading history behind it, is what gets these applications refused.

Choose a country

11 countries, one guide each

The same trip goes by a different name in every country. Each ticket shows what you actually apply for — the name to look for on the official site.

1. 01Purpose first
2. 02Verify the invitation
3. 03Build the company file
4. 04Submission and decision

Guides for other visa types

• Student visa8 guides
• Work visa9 guides
• Visit visa12 guides
• Immigration4 guides
• Umrah visa1 guide
• Hajj visa1 guide