"US stops visa issuance on EPB recommendations" blared a headline in the Business Recorder in an article written by senior journalist, Iqbal Mirza. The decision is based on a fact that some of the participants to the EXPO PAK ‘ 95 did not bother to come back to the native land. The list of these businessmen includes top executives and owners of limited companies presumably engaged in capturing a large segment of the world export market.

The Chairman of EPB is furious and he has written letters to the FPCCI supremo requesting his help in damage control. What this measure signifies is that from now on the US consular sections in Lahore and Islamabad are going to deeply discount any and all recommendations from EPB for issuance of the coveted American visit visas. What will all this amount to ? That is a question on the minds of all those desirous of traveling across the seven seas to get a foothold into the lucrative US market. These businessmen may be genuine, but as has been pointed out by Clyde Jones, Chief of the Consular section in the US Consulate in Lahore, some of them are either working or even studying illegally in the Land of the Stars and Stripes.

The lure of the good life in the US, the volatile law and order environment in Karachi, and the depressed economic situation all over the country, are some of the more common reasons why many plan to settle down in America. The aspirants try all kinds of techniques and prepare fabulous documents to prove their bona fides. Some are able to "hoodwink" the person interviewing them ; at the same time it has been seen that genuine honest-to-goodness industrialists and businessmen are refused visas because they were not loquacious or eloquent enough to "impress" the consular officer.

The consular officers who conduct the interviews and sift thru the various documents presented by the applicants have a tough job at hand. A senior officer in the Karachi Consulate emphatically stated in a recent meeting that it is a really stupendous situation for them to decide on the issuance of visas because in a country like Pakistan, and also in some other countries, there is a high incidence of visa misrepresentation, especially thru the presentation of fraudulent documents.

The senior officer further emphasized that it is also a difficult problem to tackle without a crackdown by the authorities on the "document wallahs" who offer any and all types of "evidence" needed by applicants. He further added that US officials have often noted the difficulty of properly and justifiably adjudicating visa applications, even in countries where counterfeit documents and illegal sojourners to the "Land of the Dollar Bill" are rare. Naturally, he added, it is much more of a problem in Pakistan.

The October 01, 1995 issue of The News, Karachi, carried an article by Kamran Mansoor titled "The lady who ‘makes’ your dream come true". He cites the case of a daring lady, Nazneen Shahbuddin, who "is a demi-god for those who dream for prosperity and reputation and long to go abroad." She charges Rs 150,000 to 180,000 from those who wish to go to the States. She manages all the forged documents and takes the "lucky" person to the destination of his dreams. This racket has been going on for many years and this enterprising person is able to carry this on without any hassles or fear. No wonder the consular officers get peeved off whenever they sense something is rotten in Denmark (in this case, Pakistan).

During my term as member of the Managing Committee of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a few years back, I sat in the interviews being conducted of businessmen who had applied to attend a fair in Chicago, and for which the KCCI was invited by EPB to participate. During the course of the interview, we came across applicants, who presumably were reputed businessmen (but somehow, strangely, all under 25 years old !), who had absolutely no idea what the heck they were gonna do or sell at the Fair in America, and who tried their level best to convince us that they really were kosher. My pessimistic but pragmatic comments to the President of KCCI were later proved correct because NOT a single one of them got visas, and the KCCI participation went up in smoke.

As Chairman of SITE Association of Industry in 1991, I had invited the then US Consul General, Richard Faulk, to meet the members over lunch. After the official meeting, while we were having lunch, some of the press reporters cornered Mr Faulk and solicited his comments on the news that the Consulate would henceforth disregard the recommendations for visas from FPCCI and KCCI, because some cases were brought to the notice of the Consulate that quite a few persons recommended by these bodies did not come back and that there was sufficient proof that things were not on the level. He then added (seriously or jocularly, I can’t say) that if the Chairman of SITE made any recommendations, these would be given due consideration and will carry more weight. Unfortunately, many people overheard that particular remark and the SITE Chairman’s office was inundated with so many requests that it became a difficult task to cope with. Believe me, we had a real tough time, especially from those industrialists who wanted to send their young relatives to the States. In fact, even to this day, I get atleast fifteen calls a month from people who ask me to recommend their cases to the Consulate, and that too inspite of the shifting of the consular offices to Lahore. By the way, I have recommended many people for visas, but alas, except for one who brought back a bottle of cologne for me, not a single person had ever sent a postcard while there or who expressed any thanx after returning home. Well, what the hell !

The US government recently decided to curtail its consular activities in Karachi and shift the whole enchilada to Lahore. Even the drop-box facility has been transferred to Lahore. Now, the process of getting visas for Karachiites has become cumbersome, lengthy, and uncertain. It may take anywhere from seven to eight weeks to get an appointment, and the person or the whole family have to go to Lahore and stay overnight, atleast. Woe be to the applicants who miss out even one required document. There go their visas out of the window. A sad trek back home and no chance of a visa for another one year, or maybe never.

The fact of the matter is that the decision to downgrade the Karachi Consulate was ostensibly taken after the tragic cold-blooded murder of two members of the Consulate team. This has led to the Consulate being declared an "employees only post". Nevertheless, the merging of the consular activities in Lahore may also be due to the position described above where the inflow of applicants with suspicious documents is on the upsurge. Maybe, the recent strong measures may be one way of discouraging too many Pakistanys from making the trip to USA and may compel them to detour to Europe or maybe the Far East. A common answer given by families wanting to visit USA is that they want to go to Disneyland. Well, as an American friend in the Karachi Consulate remarked, they can now go to Eurodisney in France or how about a visit to the one in Tokyo ? Mickey Mouse is there too !

To come back to the original premise, the businessmen are really perturbed over the decision of the US Consulates not to consider the recommendations of EPB for issuance of visas. This is a terrible blow to the reputation of the Bureau and above all hurts the sincere efforts of the darling of all businessmen, Mian Habibullah. However, there is a lesson somewhere here for all businessmen and especially the heads of the Chambers and the Associations. The primary fault lies with them because they are not willing to check and scrutinize the documents and the authenticity of the applicants first before issuing them the recommendation letters. At the end of the day, the honest and virtuous business community has to face the ignominy of being denied visas, just because some crooks made it to the USA on fraudulent documents. Do we then blame the consular officers ?