ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Monday, directed the ministries concerned to streamline the process of issuance of visas to Afghanistan nationals by bringing more transparency in the process.
The committee in its meeting, chaired by its chairman Mohsin Dawar, got a detailed briefing from the Foreign Office, Ministry of Interior, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) about the problems being faced by Afghanistan nationals in getting Pakistani visas, as the concerned ministries/ departments failed to satisfy the committee in getting to the conclusion as to who is the issuing authority.
“It appears that there is still confusion and we are unable to draw a conclusion as to who is the actual authority which gives final approval for issuing visas to the Afghan nationals,” said the chairman of the committee.
In his briefing to the committee, Syrus Qazi, special secretary Foreign Affairs, informed the committee that visa is entirely the subject of the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Office is only the issuing authority.
A representative of the Interior Ministry; however, told the committee that the Interior only deals with issuing students’ visas and giving extensions to the already issued visas.
On this, the committee sought separate reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior and the FIA to identify the loopholes and subsequently, address the corrupt practices in the visa process by bringing more transparency in the process.
Dawar, in his remarks, pointed out that many cases have surfaced which indicate that visas were issued to Afghan nationals through agents after paying up to $1,500 without going through the lengthy process of verification and in total disregard to the vulnerabilities of Afghans.
The members of the committee stated in the absence of a clear policy, procedural hurdles, bureaucratic discretion and corruption runs rampant.
They alleged that the sponsor and invitation letters on their official letterheads were completely disregarded while those who bribed the officials easily get the visa within no time.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023