Pakistani-origin South African cricketer Muhammad Imran Tahir, who would be featuring in the Independence Cup scheduled to be held in Lahore this month, has been issued a visa by the Pakistan Consulate Birmingham.
Imran Tahir and his family approached the Pakistan Consulate Birmingham on September 4, for the issuance of visa for himself, his wife, son and mother-in-law, a press release said. The consul general received Tahir in his office, and explained to him that issuing visa to third country nationals requires additional processes as Tahir as well as his three family members are holders of South African passports.
Consulate staff assisted him in filling out the visa applications. The visa applications are handled by Gerry’s but, as a special case, his (Tahir’s) applications were directly accepted by the consulate. It may be noted that the normal visa processing time is five working days. When the high commissioner came to know about the matter, he immediately intervened and gave necessary approval after which the visas were issued the same day. The high commissioner also spoke to Tahir on telephone.
It was clarified that the time taken in issuing visas was due to non-filling-out of four applications, non-availability of supporting documents and additional processing required in respect of visa for holders of third country passports.
