IHC strikes down passport rule used to bar travel: what it means if you are offloaded

Update, Saturday 26 September 2026, 10:45pm PKT: the IHC has struck down the passport rule used to put travellers on the Passport Control List. Justice Raja Inaam Amin Minhas declared Rule 22(2)(b) of the Passport Rules 2021 inconsistent with the Constitution, ARY News and 24 News reported on Saturday. That rule let the government place a citizen on the Passport Control List (PCL), and so stop them from leaving the country, on the recommendation of a government agency alone.

The case was brought by a citizen, Moinuddin, who was stopped at the airport on his way to Saudi Arabia for Umrah. He had served a three-year sentence in Saudi Arabia for dangerous driving and was deported after completing it; he later got a valid Umrah visa. The court noted that no case, inquiry or law-enforcement interest was pending against him, and ordered that his name be removed from the PCL within 15 days.

The court held that citizens cannot be put on the PCL or stopped from travelling abroad without clear legal authority and due process, and told the authorities to maintain the list under the Passport Act 1974 and its procedural rules. It also said the passport and immigration authorities had not complied with its earlier orders: the "speaking order" they filed carried no legal references. Copies of the judgment go to the Interior Secretary, the DG Immigration and Passports and the DG FIA.

What it changes, and what it does not

• It covers the PCL, not every offload. The ruling is about being barred through the Passport Control List. Being turned back at the immigration counter on a visit visa, which the case below is about, is a separate question the IHC is still hearing.
• Expect an appeal. In April 2026 the Federal Constitutional Court suspended a Lahore High Court judgment of 23 December 2025 that had struck down Rules 22(2) and 23, so the government could keep blacklisting deportees while the appeal is heard, The Express Tribune reported. The same could happen to this IHC judgment.
• If you are on the PCL with no case or inquiry against you, this judgment is the one to cite in a petition. Ask the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports in writing why your name is listed; a reply with no legal basis is exactly what the court rejected.

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Being offloaded at the airport by the FIA, turned back at immigration with a valid visa and ticket, is one of the most common complaints from Pakistani travellers. This week the Islamabad High Court asked the question many of them have asked: what law lets the FIA do it?

What happened in court

This week Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas heard a petition from a citizen, Sajid, who was stopped from flying abroad. The FIA's answer was a 1975 letter which, it said, authorises standard operating procedures (SOPs) for offloading.

The judge was not persuaded. "An SOP is not a law. We have to enforce the law," he said, warning that letting one agency act on internal procedures instead of legislation would set a precedent for other state institutions. He also asked whether the FIA can stop someone on speculation about what that person might do abroad. FIA officials were told to come back fully prepared with the legal provisions they rely on. No date was given for the next hearing.

It is one of several offloading cases before the IHC this month:

• Last week: Justice Minhas let another offloaded citizen, Rab Nawaz, travel, and warned he could ask the Establishment Division to stop the promotion of any officer found to have offloaded someone unlawfully.
• 23 September: Justice Ayaz Shaukat sent a third passenger, Nazeer Muhammad, to the FIA's review committee, telling the agency: "Do not act as an embassy yourself."

Why the FIA says it offloads people

In court, FIA Deputy Director Afzal Niazi gave the agency's figures: 45,850 Pakistanis deported back, 39,095 who went on visit visas and did not return, and more than 1,100 involved in begging abroad. Those numbers are the reason the FIA gives for checking visit-visa travellers, particularly to the Gulf, much more closely.

If you are offloaded: what to do

1. Ask for your offloading number. The FIA told the court that every offloaded passenger gets an offloading number that records the reason.
2. Apply to the FIA review committee with that number, your passport, visa, ticket and supporting papers (hotel booking, return ticket, employer or sponsor letter, bank statement).
3. Keep your papers consistent. The 23 September case turned on a traveller holding a business visa for Uzbekistan while presenting a work visa. Mismatched papers are the most common trigger.
4. Go to court if the review fails. The IHC has allowed at least one offloaded citizen to travel this month.

Before you fly on a visit visa

• Carry a printed return ticket and hotel booking, and know your host's address and phone number.
• Carry proof of funds. Check what your budget is worth at the destination with our currency converter and today's dollar rate.
• Make sure your passport has at least six months' validity. Renewal costs are in our passport fee calculator.

What changes now

For visit-visa offloading at the counter, nothing yet: it continues until a court rules or Parliament legislates. But the IHC has now twice demanded the legal basis in writing. If the FIA cannot produce a statute, a ruling that SOP-based offloading is unlawful would change airport checks for every traveller from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.