US imposes visa restrictions on three senior Pakistani authorities

Islamabad, May 15 The US has imposed visa sanctions on three senior Pakistani interior ministry officials following a row between the two nations over deportation of dozens of Pakistanis in America for their visa overstay and other allegations.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday informed the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs about that visa curbs by the US.

The authorities who are confronting the visa restrictions are an additional secretary and a joint secretary of the interior ministry just as the director general passports, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The sanctions on the officials have been put in place after a row between Pakistan and America over deportation of many Pakistanis, at present in the US, as a result of visa overstay and other allegations, it said.

Qureshi said the US authorities proposed to deport more than 70 Pakistanis, but the government had asked them to fulfil the legal requirements.

The US put the restrictions on three authorities that are said to administer the nation's strategy on tolerating back nationals ousted from other nations.

The US has over the past 18 months deported over 100 Pakistanis, all of whom were accepted back.

It is the first time that Pakistani authorities have insisted on a verification of the credentials of the deportees.

The foreign minister, however, clarified that there were no visa restrictions by the US government on Pakistani citizens in general.

He said consular operations of the US embassy in Islamabad were continuing and are granting visas to the eligible applicants.