WASHINGTON: The Pakistan Embassy in the United States (US) has rejected the reports claiming that Pakistani Americans are being denied visas to visit their homeland.
“There is no truth to the rumours,” the embassy said in an X post. The embassy’s spokesperson clarified, “This is a misinformation and disinformation”.
The clarification came following the US State Department’s press briefing wherein a question was raised regarding visas of Pakistani-Americans being rejected for travelling to their homeland.
Decision to issue visas made solely by Pakistani embassy: State department
Earlier in the day, the US State Department told media it was up to the consular officials at the Pakistan Embassy to issue or reject a visa request by a US citizen, and it did not relate to them.
At a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday, the department’s Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel was asked if those US citizens whose visas were rejected approached the State Department.
The issue was raised after recent media reports claimed the Pakistan Embassy had “denied visas to US citizens of Pakistani origin because of their links to PTI”.
The reports added that some US citizens were also detained in Pakistan for participating in political activities.
State Dept spokesman refuses to specify if Congress has asked for probing cipher issue.
“I am not aware of this. Obviously, if there are any issues that arise in this area, certainly it would be something for Pakistani consular officials to speak to and not anything that relates to the State Department.”
“We will just leave it at that,” said the US official when a reporter sought more clarification.
Mr Patel was also asked if the US Congress has asked the State Department to probe the cipher dispute that has initiated legal proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan.
“We consult our congressional partners on a number of issues, We will not speak about something specifically, but we are continuing to monitor the situation closely,” replied the official.
At the briefing, another journalist asked Mr Patel if the US was helping those American citizens who have been subjected to house arrests in Iran.
“In any circumstances when an American citizen is detained or an American national is detained, we, of course, assess the situation for indicators that would be consistent with the wrongful detention designation,” he added.
