July 4, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 3,1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 3: The federal government on Thursday decided to impose surcharge from July 25, on the foreigners overstaying their visas.

An official announcement of the interior ministry said it had been observed that a large number of foreigners continue to overstay in Pakistan without visa and apply for regularization of their illegal stay only when they plan to return to their countries.

“One cause of this tendency of the foreigners is the absence of any check on late submission of visa extension requests,” it said.

The announcement said introduction of some additional fee in cases of overstay will help discourage this tendency.

The surcharge will be imposed at following rates: $20 for over two weeks to one month’s illegal stay; $50 for over one to three months; and $100 for over three-month to one-year stay.

No surcharge will be payable in case of holders of diplomatic passports.

For the foreigners of Pakistani origin, the surcharge rates will be: $10 for up to one month’s overstay; $20 for one to six months; and $40 for beyond one year’s illegal stay.

All the powers available with the Ministry of Interior will apply in addition to the above surcharge.

No surcharge will be applicable to children of up to 12 years and 50 per cent surcharge will be payable in case of children of up to 18 years.

Indian nationals will be charged Rs20 per day for any period of overstay.