Government of Pakistan
Cabinet Secretariat
(Cabinet Division)
I***
No.9-148/2002-Mink. Islamabad, the 26th October, 2018.
INSTRUCTIONS ON VISITS ABROAD
1. Instructions on visits abroad, alongwith the procedure for processing cases on the
subject are as follows:
I Visits abroad of Federal Visits abroad by Federal Ministers, Ministers of
Ministers, Ministers of State, State, Advisors/Special Assistants to the Prime
Advisors/Special Assistants to Minister shall require approval of the Prime
the Prime Ministers. Minister.
II. Visits abroad of Secretaries and Visits abroad by Secretaries/Additional Secretaries
Additional Secretaries Incharge Incharge shall require approval of the Prime
of Ministries/Divisions. Minister.
Obligatory Visits:
III. Visits abroad of officers in Where size of the delegation is upto three
BPS-20 and above and their members, Federal Ministers / Minister Incharge of
equivalent working in a Ministry/Division concerned shall be competent
Autonomous/ Semi- to accord approval.
Autonomous Bodies and
Corporations.
IV. Visits abroad by officers/ Where size of the delegation is upto three
officials upto and including BPS- members, Secretary/ Additional Secretary
19 and their equivalent working lncharge of a Ministry/Division concerned shall be
in Autonomous/ Semi- competent to accord approval.
Autonomous Bodies and
Corporations.
V. Where size of the delegation a Where GoP funding is involved, matter would
exceeds three members, be submitted for approval of the Prime
Minister through both Finance and Foreign
Affairs Divisions:
b Where GoP funding is not involved, matter
would be submitted for approval of the Prime
Minister through Foreign Affairs Division.
Non Obligatory Visits:
VI. Visits abroad of officers in In case of events/meetings organized by UN
BPS-20 and above and their Agencies/International Financial Institutions,
equivalent working in where no GoP funding is involved and size of the
Autonomous/ Semi- delegation is upto three members,
Autonomous Bodies and Ministers/Minister Incharge of a Ministry/Division
Corporations, concerned shall be competent to accord
approval subject to NOC by Foreign Affairs
Division.
VII. Visits abroad by officers/ In case of events/meetings organized by UN
officials upto and including BPS- Agencies/International Financial Institutions,
19 and their equivalent working where no GoP funding is involved and size of the
in Autonomous/ Semi- delegation is upto three members,
Autonomous Bodies and Secretary/Additional Secretary Incharge of a
Corporations. Ministry/Division concerned will be competent to
accord approval subject to NOC by Foreign
Affairs Division.
RAB NAWAZ KHAN
Section Officer
Cabinet Division
Islamabad
VIII Visit abroad of officers/officials Where GoP funding is involved, the matter
to events/meetings, where size would be submitted to the Prime Minister
of the delegation exceeds through Foreign Affairs and Finance Divisions.
three members.
Where no GoP funding is involved, the matter
would be submitted to the Prime Minister
through Foreign Affair5 Division.
IX. Visits abroad of officers/officials a Where GoP funding is involved, the matter
for bilateral and multilateral would be submitted to the Prime Minister
meetings/events. through Foreign Affairs and Finance Divisions.
b Where no GoP funding is involved, the matter
would be submitted to the Prime Minister
through Foreign Affairs Division.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions in para 1 above:
In cases of urgent nature, the Prime Minister may dispense with the
requirement of routing the summaries for visits abroad through one or more
Divisions;
Information pertaining to all foreign visits, irrespective of the approving
authorities, should immediately be shared with The Foreign Affairs Division as
well as the concerned Pakistani Missions Abroad in advance:
In case of foreign visits by officers/officials of the Foreign Affairs Division, where
size of the delegation is up to five members, the Minister for Foreign Affairs shall
be empowered to grant approval: and where size of the delegation exceeds
five members, matter would be submitted for approval of the Prime Minister.
d Both the Minister and the Secretary of a Ministry/Division shall not be out of the
country at the same time. However, simultaneous visit abroad of both the
Minister and the Secretary may only be allowed in unavoidable and very
exceptional circumstances. The Ministries/Divisions seeking such an exemption
shall submit the case for approval of the Prime Minister and should add a
paragraph to the summary fully justifying the exemption being sought;
Ministries/Divisions shall ensure that to the maximum extent possible, officers of
Pakistan Embassies in the country in which a meeting/conference is to take
place, represent Pakistan at such meetings. HOwever, the Ministries/Divisions
concerned shall provide proper briefing material to the Pakistan Missions
abroad well in time. Meetings/Conferences which can be handled by Pakistan
Missions abroad will be identified and proper intimation sent to the concerned
missions. Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall coordinate in such matters. In case the
visit is considered absolutely unavoidable, it should be explicitly mentioned in
the summary as to why Pakistan Mission Abroad cannot handle the issue.
All Federal Ministers. Ministers of State, Advisers, Special Assistants to the Prime
Minister and officers etc. will be allowed to avail not more than three (03) visits
abroad per year, except for special circumstances. However, the Minister for
Foreign Affairs and Minister for Commerce are exempted from the restriction of
three (03) visits.
All Divisions should obtain HOC from Economic Affairs Divisions for visits with
respect to International Financial Institutions.
3. In cases of participation in Conferences, Seminars, Workshops etc. categorization
of the same ither "Obligatory' as classified and circulated vide Cabinet Division's
O.M. No. 9-1 02-Min.II, dated 26.10.2018 may invariably be indicated in the summary.
NAWA/KHAN
Section (Alcor Page 2 of 4
Cabinet Division
Islamabad
For trainings/workshops of government officers upto 8S-19, where no GoP funding
is involved, Establishment Division, in consultation with all Ministries/Divisions, shall formulate
detailed policy guidelines. The report should be submitted to the Committee on Visits
Abroad within a month.
No Minister or Government functionary shall solicit at his own an invitation for
participation in Trainings, Seminars, Conferences, Workshops, Meetings etc. from any
source.
Members of the National Security Committee, Federal Ministers, Ministers of State,
Advisers, Special Assistants to the Prime Minister, persons holding the status of Federal
Minister or Minister of State without Cabinet rank, Parliamentary Secretaries, and Provincial
Governors shall not avail of any offer of airfare or per-diem made by a Foreign
Government or International Agency for a visit abroad except made by the UN
Agencies/01C.
Summaries seeking orders of the Prime Minister should reach 14 days prior to the
visit abroad through Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance (where applicable) and shall
contain details of expenditure involved including the Foreign Exchange component and
balance in the relevant budget head (in the main body of the Summary) and details of
previous visits abroad during the last twelve months.
Entitlement of different government functionaries to the facility of air travel abroad
shall be as follows:-
S. # Designation Class
The President. le Class
Chief Justice of Pakistan.
3 The Prime Minister.
Chairman, Senate.
Speaker, National Assembly.
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Federal Ministers. Business Class
Ministers of State.
Chairman, JCSC.
Services Chiefs.
Senators.
MN As.
All Federal Secretaries, officers in BPS-22, Additional
Secretaries Incharge and equivalent in Armed Forces.
Ambassadors
4. All other officers of the Federal Government, Attached
Departments, Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Bodies,
Economy Class
Corporations and other Institutions under the administrative
control of various Ministries/ Divisions.
9, All Federal Ministers, Ministers of State, Advisers, Special As istants to the Prime
Minister and Government officers/officials shall use PIA frights during their foreign visits, in
case the airline is flying to these destinations and on relevant dates.
The Ambassadors of Pakistan should normally sign agreements with the countries
of their accreditation and, as for as possible; visits abroad shall not be undertaken by the
officers of the Ministries/Divisions to sign such agreements.
The Federal Ministers, Ministers of State, Advisers, Special tants to the Prime
Minister shall not take their personal staff along with them on fo tours and, instead,
use the services of the embassy staff.
RAB NAWAZ KHAN
Page 3 of 4 Section Officer
Cabinet Division
The members of the Cabinet shall, as far as possible, not undertake any local or
foreign tour during National Assembly/Senate Sessions.
The visits of Ministers and other delegations should be well planned and be made
only if essential and serve vital national interests.
At the conclusion of a foreign visit, the delegation/official shall submit post visit
report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerned Division within 15 days of
completion of the visit.
All Ministers/delegations proceeding abroad on official visits shall secure necessary
briefing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before departure.
No contact shall be made with the countries with whom Pakistan does not have
any diplomatic relations.
For countries with whom Pakistan has strained diplomatic relations, prior
concurrence of the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister, shall be required for any
official/semi-official contact, on case to case basis.
No official/semi-official contact with Taiwan is to be made under any
circumstances, as part of Pakistan's declared One China policy.
Specific permission shall also be sought for any visits involving meetings with the
officials of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
NOC for proceeding abroad by all government servants shall be required from
parent Division/Head of Department. In case of visit to India, NOC by Ministry of Interior
and Ministry of Foreign Affairs is mandatory.
For undertaking private visits, clearance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not
required.
The hospitality of foreign companies shall be discouraged as a matter of policy.
Name and designation of the officer who is authorized by the Secretary/Additional
Secretary Incharge to look after the work in his absence, shall be indicated in the main
body of the Summary.
Experts/Consultants engaged temporarily and on the basis of the expertise which
they already possess, will be eligible for visits abroad, where negotiations at a
bilateral/ multilateral fora are involved. However, they shall not be recommended for
foreign trainings/Workshops etc.
If any doubt or dispute arises as to the interpretation of these Instructions, the
matter shall be referred to the Cabinet Division, whose decision shall be final.
Amendments in these Instructions shall be made with the appr
Minister.
(RAB A AZ KHAN)
Sectio Officer (Mini!)
Tel: 6601
RAB NAWAZ KHAN
Section Officer
Cabinet Division
Islamabad
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