This means no more passport stickers or long embassy lines, even for travellers from Pakistan. In the new system, you won’t need to get a visa sticker glued into your passport. Instead, you’ll receive a secure digital visa with a special 2D barcode, sent directly to your email or accessible through a mobile app.

The European Union says this will make travel safer, faster, and far more convenient. The upcoming digital Schengen visa for Pakistani travellers is designed to remove the hassle of paperwork and reduce visits to visa centers.

Applicants will soon be able to upload documents, pay fees, and track their visa status completely online. While first-time travellers or those who haven’t submitted biometric data before may still need to visit a visa center once, most others will enjoy a much smoother experience in the future.

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France already tested this new visa system during the 2024 Paris Olympics, issuing around 70,000 digital visas to international visitors and the results were promising.

At the same time, the EU is also launching two other systems that will change the way people enter and exit Europe. The Entry/Exit System (EES) will roll out in October 2025, replacing manual passport stamps with facial recognition and fingerprint scans at border crossings.

By the end of 2026, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will become mandatory for travellers from visa-exempt countries, including Pakistani diplomatic passport holders. They’ll have to apply for electronic travel authorisation, similar to the U.S. ESTA system.

Meanwhile, some EU countries are pushing for an even more flexible tourist visa system. Italy, France, and Greece are discussing a Pan-European visa that could make travel even easier between both Schengen and non-Schengen countries. While this idea is still being debated, if approved, it could make multi-country trips across Europe much simpler in the future.

For Pakistani citizens visiting Europe, these digital changes will mean faster visa processing, easier application tracking, and smoother border checks using biometric gates. In today’s world of contactless travel, this digital shift is seen as a much-needed step forward.