Pakistan has decided to issue five-year, multiple-entryvisas to US nationals, even though the American government has changed itspolicy of issuing five-year visas to Pakistanis, the media reported on Monday.
In a note sent last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Islamabad, advised Pakistani diplomatic missions in the US to follow the newpolicy while issuing visas to American nationals, reports Dawn news.
The Ministry first conveyed this change to the US Embassy inIslamabad on May 10 while responding to a query regarding the duration ofvisit/tourist visas for US nationals.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs “has the honour tostate that the government of Pakistan, in line with its policy to encouragetourism, has allowed granting of multiple-entry visas to US nationals for up tofive years with a maximum stay of three months”, the note said.
The US had long demanded this change in Pakistan’s visapolicy and recently changed its own policy when Islamabad did not respond.
The Americans used to issue five-year, multiple-entrytourist and visit visas to Pakistani nationals. In some cases, professionals,such as journalists, were also issued five-year multiple visas.
In return, the Americans demanded similar facilities for theirnationals.
But now the US is only issuing three-month visas to mostPakistanis and also has enforced new restrictions on official visas.
In April, the US added Pakistan to a list of 10 nationssanctioned for refusing to take back deportees and visa overstayers, Dawn newsreported.
The new restriction bars some officials of the InteriorMinistry from receiving US visas.