Washington: As an immediate fall out of the
FBI foiling a LeT plot to use US nationals to carry out major
terror attacks in India, the Indian Embassy here has tightened
visa approval norms for Pakistan-born American citizens, whose
applications would now have to be cleared by New Delhi.
An instruction in this regard has recently been issued
by Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, according to which all
applications for Indian visa from Pakistani-born US nationals
would now be processed and cleared by New Delhi.
The measure has been taken in view of the busting of the
Lashkar-e-Toiba plot, in which the Pakistan-based terror group
was planning to use Pak-born US national David Coleman Headley
to launch terrorist attacks in India.
Because of the good relationship between India and the
United States, American citizens never have had any problem in
receiving the visa. Besides, the Indian Embassy in Washington,
the Indian Consulates in New York, Houston, Chicago and San
Francisco too issue Indian visas.
All the Indian Missions in the US have been directed to
adhere to the new instructions in this regard from New Delhi.
As the new VISA regulations came into force, intense
discussion have begun on forums and on line blogs on what is
being described in delays in issuing of Indian visas to
Pak-born US nationals.
"I applied for a tourist visa for India in April earlier
this year and received it within a week. I made a visit to
India in September and applied for another visa upon my return
on September 18, 2009," wrote one Noni Fayyaz, stating that
she is a US citizen born in Pakistan, on a travel forum.
"I went through TRAVISA; it has been a month and I do
not have the visa yet. I have called TRAVISA several times but
all they tell me is that I should wait and that they have not
heard anything. Their website shows the status as "Documents
received by consulate," Fayyaz said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 12, 2009, 11:21