KUWAIT CITY, Jan 9: Kuwait has stopped issuing visas to Pakistanis with immediate effect, says a report in a local daily.

The Arab Times quoting sources in the immigration department said that Pakistani nationals would not get work, visit or family visas under a decision which came into effect on Saturday.

The sources did not mention the reason for the ban. Labour Attache Amir Hassan of the Pakistan embassy told Dawn that they had no information about the decision.

The embassy, he added, requested a meeting with the labour and interior ministries to find out if any decision had been taken in this regard. Kuwait imposed a similar ban in 1998 and lifted it after five years.