ISLAMABAD – The United States on Tuesday issued a new visa policy forPakistani citizens, reducing the duration of visa for them to just threemonths.”An additional fee will be charged for H (Temporary Work Visa), I(Journalist and Media Visa), L (Intercompany Transfer Visa), and R(Religious Worker Visa) visas only if the visa application is approved andmust be paid at the Embassy Islamabad or Consulate General Karachi prior tovisa issuance,” a press release issued by the US Embassy here said.The fees will be — I visas $32; H, L, R visas $38. The US will now give athree-month visa to Pakistani journalists.The validity periods of the visas will decrease and the new periods willbe:I visas (3 months) while H visas, L visas and R visas for 12 months.During a recent worldwide review, the Department of State noteddiscrepancies between the US visa regime and the visa regimes of manycountries, including Pakistan.Because Pakistan was unable to liberalize its visa regime for certain visacategories, the United States was required by US law on January 21 toreduce the visa validity and increase the visa fees to match Pakistan’spractices for similar visa categories, the press release said.
Why US has reduced Visa tenure for Pakistani citizens?
