Pakistan has had a significant 40 per cent
drop in the number of American visas granted to its nationals under the new
Trump administration despite not being on the list of the US President's travel
ban countries.
Interestingly, the number of non-immigrant US visas to Indians has increased by
28 per cent in March and April this year as compared to the monthly average of
the previous year, according to the newly-released monthly official data.
Non-immigrant visas granted to Pakistanis are down by 40 per cent in March and
April this year compared to the 2016 monthly average, a Pakistani media report
said quoting data released by the US State Department.
Pakistanis were issued 3,925 non-immigrant visas in April and 3,973 visas in
March 2017 under the Trump administration. The Obama administration last year
issued a total of 78,637 non-immigrant visas to Pakistanis with a monthly
average of 6,553, which was 40 per cent higher than the current average.
Before March this year, the State Department did not release monthly breakdowns
of visas and only annual figures were available. The report compared the March
and April 2017 figures with monthly averages for 2016.
Even in 2015, monthly average remained 6,179 as a total of 74,150 Pakistanis
had been granted visas. A spokesperson of the State Department told the The
News International: "Visa demand is cyclical, not uniform throughout the
year and affected by various factors at the local and international level. Visa
issuance numbers tend to increase during peak travel seasons, such as during
the summer and the winter holidays, though there may be different trends at the
country, nationality, or visa-category level".
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