Pakistanis face difficulties in getting F1, J1 and H1B visas.

Karamat takes up visa delays with US official

WASHINGTON: Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, has raised the concern of the Pakistani community regarding extraordinary delays faced by Pakistani citizens in getting F1, J1 and H1B visas.

Sources said he discussed the issue in a recent meeting with Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs.

The ambassador especially mentioned the problems being faced by students and doctors from Pakistan, who were being deprived of higher education, residency and training opportunities in the US due to inordinate delays in the processing of visas applications.

Ambassador Karamat also took up the case of Pakistani citizens living on the US-Canadian border who were being subjected to exhaustive scrutiny at the port of entry at Windsor during their daily commute to the US for studies or jobs. He requested that these citizens be exempt from the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System.

Harty said she would look into the issue, and assured the ambassador that her bureau was trying to speed up the process of issuing visas to Pakistani applicants.

She said that some delays were being experienced due to security clearance requirements, which in some cases took longer than usual. app