THERE has been a heated debate on immigration lately in the current election campaign in the United States.

I would like to share my experience with you. We are expecting a child in September. My wife’s current pregnancy is of a high risk owing to previous history of pre-eclampsia and the demise of our first child during the delivery.

I am a physician with a busy schedule trying to provide quality care to my patients. We also have an 18-month-old girl who would need constant care during the process.

We decided to bring my mother-in-law to help us during this pregnancy and applied for her visit visa at the US embassy in Pakistan. Without any obvious reason or security threat, her visa was rejected twice.

I also sent an affidavit of support taking responsibility for all her travel expenses and healthcare needs, and making sure that she returns to Pakistan after a few months.

I have lived in the US for 15 years and I am a proud citizen now fulfilling all my duties. If this can happen to us where we have a genuine reason and need to bring someone to help us during these tough times, I feel bad for other genuine visa seekers.

You can reapply for the visa by paying $160 each time which I am sure is a good money-making enterprise for the US embassies around the world.

This needs to change as consular offices around the world are the representatives of the US government. They are supposed to be more accommodating, efficient, and, above all, reliable.

Sohail Khan
Los Angeles

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2015

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