FO directs embassies to stop issuing Afghan citizens visas

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) has swung into action after the alleged visa scandal and ordered the embassies in European countries to not issue visas to Afghan citizens till further orders, private news channel reported on Sunday.

Sources told private news channel that the foreign ministry issued instructions to all embassies across Europe to stop the issuance of visas to Afghan citizens.

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The action taken after an alleged scandal of the issuance of Pakistani visas to 1,600 Afghan nationals on fake residential cards of Sweden.

The FO issued the orders to the Pakistani embassies in the United Kingdom (UK), Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Earlier in the day, it learnt that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched an inquiry into the issuance of visas to 1,600 Afghans by a Pakistan mission in Europe on bogus residence cards of Sweden.

According to sources, the Pakistan embassy in Sweden has issued 1,600 visas to Afghan nationals on bogus residence cards.

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Hours after the news broke, the FO took notice and ordered an immediate inquiry and asked all Pakistani missions abroad to stop issuing visas of any category to Afghan nationals until further orders.

The foreign ministry has also ordered the cancellation of the visas granted to the Afghans.