PAKISTAN: AFGHANISTAN-VISAS

Headline

Pakistan announces new visa service for Afghans

Intro

Pakistan’s  Interior Minister announces that an online visa service will replace the visa-on-arrival system for Afghanistan.

Story

Shotlist:   ISLAMABAD , PAKISTAN    (OCTOBER 18,    2021)    ( TNN – ACCESS ALL)

1. span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">PAKISTAN’S INTERIOR MINISTER, SHEIKH RASHID AHMAD, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE
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4. span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">(SOUNDBITE) (Urdu)  PAKISTAN’S INTERIOR MINISTER, SHEIKH RASHID AHMAD,  SAYING:
   “From today,  we are finishing the Visa on arrival for Afghanistan. We will now have Visa Online. And the 8. something US dollar Visa  fee that we used to charge, is also being waived till December 31. This is a goodwill gesture. Till December 31, the 8.5 or 8.6 US dollar Visa fees is being waived off. We are also starting a 5-year business visa.”
5. span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">CLOSE OF HANDS TAKING NOTES
6. span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">EXTERIOR OF MINISTRY OF INTERIOR BUILDING

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US"> 

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">STORY:  Pakistan’s Minister for Interior, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, announced on Monday (October 18) that an online visa service has been launched for Afghans to replace the visa-on-arrival system that was prevalent till now.

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Ahmad said the government will also waive the visa fee for Afghans .

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US"> 

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">“From today,  we are finishing the Visa on arrival for Afghanistan. We will now have Visa Online. And the 8. something US dollar Visa  fee that we used to charge, is also being waived till December 31. This is a goodwill gesture. Till December 31, the 8.5 or 8.6 US dollar Visa fees is being waived off. We are also starting a 5-year business visa,” the minister said.

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US"> 

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">Last week, the Interior Minister had told reporters that the government would utilise modern technology to obtain data, and maintain complete records of entry and exit movements.

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">He had said that initially, the new visa regime will be applicable only on two borders, Chaman and Torkhum.

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US"> 

span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">Pakistan has temporarily closed the Chaman border crossing – the second-largest commercial border point with Afghanistan – for the past two weeks due to fears of a refugee influx in the wake of the US forces withdrawal from Afghanistan