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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0314 2342144
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 212139Z AUG 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0000
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0000
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 0000
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0000
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0000
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0000
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0000
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 090314 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CMGT CVIS PHUM PK PREL AF
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON VISA SERVICES FOR AFGHAN NATIONALS 
SEEKING TO TRAVEL TO ISLAMABAD 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request - Embassy Islamabad see 
paragraph 7. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Background:  On July 17, 2008, the Embassy of 
Pakistan in Kabul delivered a diplomatic note to Embassy 
Kabul.  In that note, the government of Pakistan announced 
that henceforth "it will not issue Pakistani visas to Afghan 
nationals who wish to go to Islamabad for obtaining visas for 
other countries."  In addition to Embassy Kabul, the note was 
delivered to the embassies of the following nations in Kabul: 
 the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, 
Japan, and South Korea. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The reason given for this decision was that the 
Pakistani Embassy in Kabul has a "deficiency of staff and 
allied facilities."  The Pakistani Embassy advised Embassy 
Kabul, and the other embassies, to shift their visa offices 
from Islamabad to Kabul, or to make arrangements in other 
capitals for the issuance of visas to Afghan nationals. 
Security reasons, or overstays by Afghan nationals in 
Pakistan, were not cited as reasons for this change in 
Pakistani government policy. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) At the present time, the Consular Section at 
Embassy Kabul provides non-immigrant visa (NIV) services only 
to officials of the Afghan government who are traveling to 
the United States on official business, and their immediate 
family members; or to employees of international 
organizations traveling to the United States on official 
business for their organization, and their immediate family 
members.  Afghan nationals seeking non-immigrant visas for 
travel to the U.S. for other purposes must apply in person at 
Embassy Islamabad.  Afghan nationals do not receive visas in 
Islamabad on the day they submit their application.  When 
issuance of the visa has been approved, they must make a 
second trip to Islamabad to receive the visa, or submit their 
passports to the consular section in Embassy Kabul, which 
sends the passport to Islamabad by courier for the visa to be 
printed in it.  Applicants for immigrant visas, including 
former USG translators seeking visas under the special 
immigrant visa program, must follow a similar course of 
action. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Expanding business, academic, and tourist travel 
between the United States and Afghanistan is an important 
priority for the USG.  The special immigrant visa program 
draws high level interest from the press and from Members of 
Congress.  For these reasons, the Department is committed to 
expanding visa operations at Embassy Kabul.   Embassy Kabul 
is actively readying the facilities and personnel needed to 
provide full non-immigrant visa services to Afghan nationals. 
 Embassy Kabul was designed to facilitate security and access 
for embassy services, however, difficult logistical, 
security, and staffing challenges must first be overcome. 
The current estimate is that the consular section may be 
ready to provide full non-immigrant visa services in Fiscal 
Year 2009, but there is no specific date. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Until Embassy Kabul is able to provide full 
non-immigrant visa services, Afghan nationals who are not 
government or international organization officials must 
travel outside of Afghanistan to apply for non-immigrant 
visas to the U.S.  It is far easier for Afghan nationals to 
apply for visas at Embassy Islamabad than for them to travel 
to other nearby countries with U.S. embassies.  Given the 
importance of travel between the U.S. and Afghanistan in our 
overall bilateral policy, it is unfortunate that the 
Pakistani government has decided to create a roadblock by 
blocking travel to those who need to apply for visas at 
Embassy Islamabad. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Action request: Drawing on the background above, 
Embassy Islamabad should approach appropriate officials in 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express our strong concern 
over the decision to discontinue issuing visas to Afghan 
nationals who need to apply for U.S. visas at Embassy 
Islamabad, and ask that the Pakistani authorities reverse 
their decision immediately.  Embassy Islamabad should 
approach the embassies of the other nations which received 
the visa notification, in order to make a joint demarche to 
the Pakistani authorities on this issue. 
RICE