Qureshi terms e-visa facility a big achievement

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said the successful launch of e-visa facility is a big achievement of the PTI government.

Talking to a delegation led by Chairman NADRA Usman Mubin in Islamabad, he said e-visa facility has been introduced to issue visas in a timely and transparent manner.

The minister said difficulties in getting visas can be overcome through an online visa facility.

The NADRA chairman briefed the foreign minister about online visa facility.

He apprised the minister that the online facility has become operational in all the Pakistani missions.

He said since the launch of the e-visa facility, a total of 1946 visa applications have been received online. Of them, 1152 applicants have been issued visas and 560 applications are under process, while 95 applications have been rejected on the basis of different technical reasons.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Interior had last month notified a new visa policy under which nationals of as many as 48 countries were extended the visa on arrival facility.

According to a notification put out by the ministry, the new visa policy came into effect from April 15.

Under the policy, visa requirements have been relaxed for 48 countries, including Brazil, Germany, Iran, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey, China, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Denmark. Whereas, India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan won’t be able to benefit from the new visa policy.

The visa will be granted for a period of three months initially.