The Indian High Commission, which has declared polio vaccination mandatory for Pakistanis submitting visa applications, has alleged that a number of applicants have filed “fake certificates” in this regard.
The commission has been rejecting the applications submitted with such certificates and may impose a permanent ban on the applicants involved, according to statement issued by it.
The commission said that detection of a forged document would result in summary rejection of the visa application and permanent denial of visa for future travel also.
It advised the applicants to comply with the polio certification requirements.
The Indian high commission had informed Pakistan’s foreign ministry in December that being a polio-free country India had decided to declare polio certificates mandatory for those who wanted to visit the country. It had declared that after Jan 30, visa applications would not be accepted without such certificates.
The ministry was informed that all adult and child applicants would have to obtain polio vaccines at least six weeks before their departure to India.
An official of the commission alleged that a number of persons had submitted “fake polio certificates” along with their applications.
The personnel of immigration department at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport have also been facing the same problem.
An official said some people thought the vaccine was injurious to health.
“People mostly travelling to the Middle East from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas try to travel on fake cards. Whenever someone having a fake card is stopped, we issue him a fresh card after vaccination,” he said.