US Embassy Pakistan sees record number of visa applications
ISLAMABAD: The United States embassy in Pakistan has announced that it will be expediting visa processing for Pakistanis. The announcement came after the embassy received a record number of visa applications. The embassy is working to reduce visa appointment wait times and process applications more quickly.
The embassy has said that it will soon conduct interviews for 10,000 non-immigrant visa applications. Interviews scheduled for 2024 will be held this year. Additionally, the Karachi consulate will begin accepting applications from interview-exempt individuals on September 25. Information about interview exemptions is available on the embassy’s website.
📢 🔔 Today, we’re announcing three steps to help bring down visa appointment wait times: tens of thousands of expedited appointments, flexible scheduling in either Islamabad or Karachi, and interview waiver applications for eligible applicants at the @usconsulatekhi. 🗓️ 🗽 pic.twitter.com/W4mIZY4BnF
— US Embassy Islamabad (@usembislamabad) September 19, 2023
Brain Drain: Over 90,000 Pakistanis left the country in Aug
In the initial eight months of 2023, a significant exodus of over 540,000 Pakistanis was witnessed, as they departed the country in pursuit of enhanced employment prospects overseas.
As per official data acquired from the Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment, precisely 540,282 Pakistani nationals formally registered for overseas employment during the first eight months of this ongoing calendar year, up until August.
By the end of July, the number of Pakistanis who had embarked on this journey amounted to 450,110. This indicates that in the month of August alone, a staggering 90,172 Pakistani citizens left their homeland, driven by aspirations of securing employment abroad.
