American woman deported from Islamabad

After FIA catches the foreigner travelling without a visa

ISLAMABAD: Immigration authorities at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on Wednesday deported an American woman when she was found to be without a valid visa.

Officials said that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested deported American national Sonia Seeta Perez after she identified that she was travelling without a visa. She had boarded a flight to Pakistan from Doha on a private, international airline.



In early 2018, the government had relaxed visa rules for tourist groups from some 24 countries, including the US, but they will be required to travel through the designated tour operators and furnish the relevant documents and sign officials forms before being granted the visa.

Separately, the FIA offloaded a South Africa-bound passenger who was attempting to travel on a forged business visa. Officials said that Muhammad Naeem was heading to the African state via Doha when his visa was found to be bogus. He was arrested and shifted to Anti-Human Smuggling Cell for investigations. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2019.