With his first day in the Oval office on January 22, Trump has signed an executive order that directed the Department of Homeland security and state department to make a list of countries with scarcity in vetting and screening process. A review period will end in late March and would likely bring about visa restrictions to 43 countries.
According to reports, visa bans have been categorized into three. With the first category facing complete ban, second partial ban and third will be given a 60 days timeline to address security matters.
Pakistan lies in the third category and the incident of Pakistan’s diplomat KK Wagan deportation from Los Angeles airport amid these controversies has raised concerns about what the Government is doing in this respect.
On 19 March 2025 in Islamabad , Deputy Prime and Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting with US officials to discuss consular issues.
US Charge d’Affaires Mrs Natalie A Baker, federal secretaries of foreign affairs and interior and other senior officials attended the meeting.
While more details of this meeting at foreign office were not shared, insider sources told THE NEWS that Wednesday’s meeting was primarily focused on the matter of issuing US visas to Pakistani citizens.
The recent meeting is the second discussion between the two countries in the span of a week.
The earlier meeting took place on March 11 in which shared concerns and common interests were discussed.
