Pakistan is likely to face proposed visa sanctions by the US due to not accepting back deportees and visa over-stayers. According to the latest notification of the ‘Federal Register’ dated 22 April 2019, Pakistan now joins the list of total 10 countries that face this issue.
The US Embassy in Islamabad clarified that “consular operations in Pakistan remain normal and unchanged”.
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in its press release on April 28, ‘We understand that the US government would continue the normal consular operations at their Embassy in Islamabad and that the ongoing discussions do not affect issuance of visas to routine Pakistani applicants’.
They further also said that Pakistan is having ongoing discussions with US for consular and repatriation issues.
Common Pakistanis, however will not be effected by this new notification of ‘federal Register’. They can continue applying immigrant and non-immigrant visas of the US, says Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
US is already acting on delayed visa policy for Pakistanis. The US Embassy in Islamabad has already issued a notification for this. For journalists, visa validity is now 3 months instead of 5 years. For work and missionary purposes, visa validity duration has also been decreased from 5 to 1 year. On the other hand, no change has been announced for student, tourist or business visas.
Over the past 18 months, US has already deported 100 Pakistanis and is likely to deport 50 more in ear future.
According to Pakistani authorities, Pakistan sometimes can’t take back deportees due to forged or fake travel documents. This often leads problems in identity verification.
According to Section 243 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as a penalty, visa issuance is discontinued for those countries that deny or create unreasonable delay accepting deportees.
The new list of ten countries bearing these sanctions is:
| Ghana |
| Guyana |
| Gambia |
| Cambodia |
| Eritrea |
| Sierra Leone |
| Laos |
| Myanmar |
| Guinea |
| Pakistan |
Download here the the complete ruling of this new action by Federal register of the US.
Read here notification of ‘Federal Register’
