Relief for Pak Hindu woman as govt grants month’s time for LTV application | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: In a relief to Pakistani Hindu woman Sharda Bai and people like her whose long-term visas (LTV)s have either expired or their applications are pending, the Centre has given them time to reapply for LTVs between May 10 and July 10.
A Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) letter on Tuesday stated, “The application for reapplying for LTV shall be available on the portal indianfrro.gov.in with effect from May 10 till July 10. The LTV of a Pakistani national, who fails to reapply in the said period, shall be cancelled.”
The development was met with joy in Sharda’s family. “We feel relieved with the relaxation order going in our favour as my mother’s LTV had expired in 2017. We had applied offline for renewal of visa. When it was made online, there were some problems because of which it couldn’t be obtained. After LTV, our pending application for Indian citizenship will hopefully be approved,” said Golu Kukreja, son of Sharda who has been living in India for almost 40 years, with most of it spent in Balangir.
Sharda came to India in 1987 on a 60-day visitor visa. She made an online visa application to the Bureau of Immigration on March 25, 2017. But it was never approved. The application showed that her visa expired on Dec 9, 1987.
“With the fresh MHA guideline, Sharda has a chance to reapply for her LTV and citizenship till July 10,” said a district-level official.
On Saturday, police had served her with ‘quit India’ notice in the aftermath of the terror attack in Pahalgam that had claimed 26 lives.
A Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) letter on Tuesday stated, “The application for reapplying for LTV shall be available on the portal indianfrro.gov.in with effect from May 10 till July 10. The LTV of a Pakistani national, who fails to reapply in the said period, shall be cancelled.”
The development was met with joy in Sharda’s family. “We feel relieved with the relaxation order going in our favour as my mother’s LTV had expired in 2017. We had applied offline for renewal of visa. When it was made online, there were some problems because of which it couldn’t be obtained. After LTV, our pending application for Indian citizenship will hopefully be approved,” said Golu Kukreja, son of Sharda who has been living in India for almost 40 years, with most of it spent in Balangir.
Sharda came to India in 1987 on a 60-day visitor visa. She made an online visa application to the Bureau of Immigration on March 25, 2017. But it was never approved. The application showed that her visa expired on Dec 9, 1987.
“With the fresh MHA guideline, Sharda has a chance to reapply for her LTV and citizenship till July 10,” said a district-level official.
On Saturday, police had served her with ‘quit India’ notice in the aftermath of the terror attack in Pahalgam that had claimed 26 lives.
