Pakistan

No visas, no entry: American, Dutch citizens turned back

Penalty notices to the delinquent airlines have been sent

Our Correspondent March 14, 2016

PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD:

An American and a Dutch national who flew to Pakistan without a visa were turned back at Islamabad airport on Monday.

Sources in the interior ministry told The Express Tribune that one American and a Dutch citizen were declared inadmissible on their arrival at the airport and sent back to the port of origin.

How many countries can Pakistanis visit without a visa

US national Rozio Francoise had arrived from Dubai via an Emirates flight while Bram De Graaff from the Netherlands arrived from Abu Dhabi via Etihad Airlines. Both the travellers had no visas to Pakistan and were declared inadmissible at the airport, the sources said. Penalty notices to the delinquent airlines have been sent.

Britain rejecting Pakistani visa applicants in droves

Under a recent directive of the interior ministry, all foreign airlines have been prohibited from bringing any person into Pakistan without a visa. The Federal Investigation Agency has issued fine notices up to Rs7.5 million so far to different foreign flight operators.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2016.

COMMENTS (11)

Avtar | 8 years ago | Reply If Pakistan wants to open up to tourism it does not have to reciprocate. Charge a visa fee. In Zimbabwe all you need a cash USD75 to get a single entry visa. South Africa does not charge any visa to nationals of most countries. Also, note it is Pakistanis who are found in most European countries working illegally and so on. They are mixing up with Syrian refugees to seek entry in Europe. You name it and Pakistanis try every avenue.

syed & syed | 8 years ago | Reply What about Pakistani air lines

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Shahzeb | 8 years ago | Reply @Buzzfeed: haha, what are you 5 years old or what?

Costanza | 8 years ago | Reply As if anyone except expat Pakistanis would want to visit Pakistan anyways.

Yasmeen | 8 years ago | Reply @Haji Atiya: I am a Dutch citizen with Pakistani in-laws and recently returned from a holiday to Lahore. The Pakistani embassy in the Netherlands is always FULL of people applying for visas - honestly, I think any person trying to travel to Pakistan without any visas is quite naive or plain dumb, but after waiting for hours in the Pakistani embassy myself, I don't blame him/her for trying to get in anyway! And BTW: it's usually your embassy personnel that is more arrogant than the First World tourists/travellers, but that is another issue.

Haji Atiya | 8 years ago | Reply Nice ! These people fancying themselves as First Worlders think that Pakistan is a stroll in a public park !

Buzzfeed | 8 years ago | Reply Why would the guy want to go to Pakistan anyways. He may have boarded the wrong plane.

Pro | 8 years ago | Reply Just wondering how they boarded the plan in the first place without visa. And they are being refused now without visa, means previously this was a normal practice. What a pity!!!

Unknown | 8 years ago | Reply "all foreign airlines have been prohibited from bringing any person into Pakistan with a visa" There is a thing called proof reading

Umar | 8 years ago | Reply I'd like to point it out that you've made a mistake in your statement regarding the Interior Ministry's directive. If you want to print articles in English, I suggest proofreading them before publishing.

Under a recent directive of the interior ministry, all foreign airlines have been prohibited from bringing any person into Pakistan without a visa.

Spyrogyra | 8 years ago | Reply Good step, not as a show of muscle but as a principled stance.

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