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Pak govt asks airlines, travel agents to endorse visit visas

DUBAI — The Pakistan government has asked airlines and travel agents to ensure that visit visas sent by UAE residents are officially endorsed by the concerned airline to check the increasing cases of deportation involving Pakistani nationals.

Earlier, any person from the UAE sponsoring a relative in Pakistan would send a copy of the visa directly to the person intending to travel, who would later collect the original at the time of arrival in Dubai. The visa copy was shown to the travel agents in Pakistan after which a ticket could be bought.

Now, the Immigration Wing of the Federal Investigation Department in Pakistan needs a confirmation by the airline that is carrying the passenger to ensure that the traveller has a valid visa to enter the port of his destination.

“This has been done to check the increasing number of cases of deportation from the UAE airports. Several people from Pakistan travel on forged documents and are lured by false travel agents resulting in being deported upon arrival in the UAE,” explained a travel agent. “Therefore, the FID in Pakistan will also cross-check and ensure that the airline has issued a letter confirming that the traveller is carrying a copy of a genuine visa,” he explained.

He said that officially it was the responsibility of the airline to ensure that the passengers were travelling on valid visas.

“If on arrival at the destination, a passenger is found to be travelling on forged documents and is deported, then the airline is fined. Besides, it will be the airline's responsibility to take the passenger back to the country of origin,” said the agent.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, a spokesperson from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said that the rule has been existing for years, but was being renewed.

“The airline has to send a message to the branch office or country station authorising travel to a visa holder. This is for the local immigration authorities (Pakistan) only,” he said.