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British Secretary for Home Affairs to visit Pak to sort out visa issues |
British Secretary for Home
Affairs Alan Johnson would be arriving in Islamabad on Monday (October 5) to meet
Pakistan Foreign Ministry officials and reduce tension between both countries
that has crept in due to the delay on part of Britain in issuing visas to Pakistanis.
Johnson , accompanied by Defence Secretary Bob Iansworth , would meet Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani and discuss several other issues apart from the visa issue.
Senior Pakistani officials dealing with the issue said that according to an estimate
about two hundred thousand passports are lying at the British High Commission
in Islamabad for months, as the British authorities have denied issuing visas
due to some unexplained reasons. British High Commissioner to Islamabad , Robert
Brinkley , said the delay in issuing visa was a serious issue, but assured that
various measures have been taken to address the matter. When asked about the reason
for the delay, a UK Border Agency official said there is a huge backlog that has
created the entire problem. “The matter was further compounded with the introduction
of the system where passports were received by the missions in Pakistan , with
the applications being processed in Abu Dhabi ,” the official said. According
to one senior UK Border Agency, the British Commission in Pakistan receives about
2,000 visa applications every week. He, however, said the backlog would be cleared
soon as the several new officials have been recruited. “Now with the additional
staff, we hope to expedite the process,” The Dawn quoted the official, as saying. |
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