‘Pak is world leader in travel document fraud’

Dubbing Pakistan as a “global leader” in visa and passport forgery, Britain’s envoy here has said that visa fraud is a deep-rooted industry in this country.

About 4,000 people were caught last year while trying to acquire British passports using fake documents, the UK’s high commissioner to Pakistan, Adam Thomson, said. Pakistan was a “global leader” vis-a-vis fake passports and visas, he said on Thursday.

Thomson said it was unfortunate that Pakistan had been rated a world leader in visa fraud. “Unfortunately, you people are world leaders in visa scam. Forgery is a strong industry here,” he was quoted as saying in media reports.

Thomson expressed satisfaction with Pakistan government’s visa issuing system but added that no passport or visa system in the world could claim to be absolutely perfect.