Pakistan on Thursday expressed hope that the United States would “soon” resume immigrant visa processing, adding that it viewed the recent suspension as part of an internal review.
The US on Wednesday announced the suspension of immigrant visa processing for Pakistan and 74 other countries, effective January 21, citing concerns that immigrants from these nations often rely on public welfare programmes.
In its statement, the State Department had said the “freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people”.
Responding to a query about the move despite Pakistan’s improved relations with Washington in recent months, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi acknowledged coming across the “reports”.
“Basically, it was a brief statement by the US State Department on their social media account about the internal review of processing immigrant visas that they are in the process of,” he said.
“We are in touch with the US authorities to ascertain further details. This is an evolving news that we are following.
“We understand that this is an internal ongoing process of review of US immigration policies and system, and hope that the routine processing of immigrant visas will resume soon,” the FO spokesperson added.
The visa processing suspension could delay travel, study, and work plans for thousands of Pakistanis who annually seek US visas. Pakistani consulates in the US are expected to provide guidance to affected applicants in the coming days.
The freeze is linked to the US public-charge rule, which evaluates whether immigrants are likely to rely on government assistance. While suspensions of visa services have occurred in the past, officials have termed the scope of this action unprecedented.
No timeline has been given for resuming visa services, but the State Department assured that countries would be notified once the review is complete.
‘Full confidence in Iranian people and their leadership’
On the ongoing unrest in Iran and Tehran’s heightened tensions with the US, the FO spokesperson said Pakistan was “closely following the developments”.
Andrabi stressed: “We attach great importance to Iran, both as a neighbouring country and as an important player of the international community and an important member of the global fraternity.”
“Pakistan hopes that peace and stability will prevail, and we reaffirm our support for all efforts aimed at a peaceful resolution of the situation.”
