US Vice Consul General briefs shipping companies on visa procedure

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) organized a briefing regarding the hurdles in obtaining US visa. The US Vice Consul General, James Allman Gulino, briefed the shipping companies regarding the hardships faced in obtaining US visa. 

The Economic Officer of the US Consulate in Karachi, Richard Rasmussen, PNSC’s Chairman, Arif Elahi, PNSC’s Executive Director, Brig Rashid Siddiqi, Director Ports and Shipping, owners of private shipping companies and their representatives attended the briefing. 

Gulino, speaking on the topic of visa policy and procedure, provided the attendants with the details regarding obtaining US visa and told them that one doesn’t have to face any undue delay or difficulty if he or she has a machine readable passport, SSB and is registered at the agent. 

“The applicants have to face difficulty if they lack the eligibility, don’t follow the standard procedure, provide invalid or incomplete documents or fail to provide required information,” he explained. 

The representatives of shipping companies requested that the procedure be made easier, some regulations should be relaxed and undue delay in issuance of visa be done away with. Speaking to media, 

Arif Elahi, Chairman PNSC, said that the main purpose of the briefing was to understand the matters related to US visa and give the Pakistani shipping companies proper orientation so that their cadets or deck cadets may face no undue difficulty at US ports. 

“The cadets passing out from Pakistan Marine Academy do not get jobs because of not having the US visas. The US visa gives them an additional international advantage as they can enter ports in many countries without any hindrances. This increases their chances of getting lucrative jobs,” he added. 

The PNSC Chairman also said that in order to obtain visa, one has to satisfy the visa officer with proper related documents. He related suggestions to make the visa process easy and curtail the difficulties of seamen with reference to documents.