ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed on Monday it had instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to temporarily stop issuing visas to Afghan nationals after identifying some “glitches” in the system.
According to some reports, the decision was taken after the Pakistan embassy in Sweden issued 1,600 visas to people of Afghan origin who provided fake Swedish residence permits with their applications.
Pakistan currently hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees, though their actual number is believed to be far greater than that.
Many Afghan nationals also settled down in different European countries after the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021. Some of them continue to visit Pakistan to meet their relatives.
“We have imposed a temporary freeze on the issuance of certain visas in some countries after identifying some glitches in the system,” Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told Arab News.
“These issues are being resolved,” she added.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry circulated a directive through email, a copy of which is seen by Arab News, instructing all its embassies in Europe to suspend all visa categories for Afghan nationals until further notice.
The letter was issued on February 8 and was addressed to the diplomatic missions in London, Glasgow, Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Frankfort, Lisbon, Athens, Vienna, Berne, Copenhagen, Oslo, Brussels, and the Hague.
Pakistan’s foreign office did not respond to questions regarding the 1,600 Afghan nationals who received visas on fake documents.
