US Relaxes Visa Rules
for Pak Students
Washington,
DC: The US authorities have started helping Pakistani students
who are admitted to various American institutions but are
unable to come because of visa restrictions.
This was disclosed by Dr Abdul Rashid Piracha, president,
Association of Pakistan Physicians of North America. He
said his group lobbied intensely for the students and “we
are now happy to report some progress.”
There are estimated 10,000 Pakistani physicians in the US
and APPNA is their largest representative body with branches
all over North America.
Dr Piracha said that two years ago, only 20 to 26 per cent
of Pakistani doctors accepted for residency programs in
the US were able to come to this country. But last year
almost 76 per cent of them succeeded in coming to the US.
In meetings with officials of the State Department and the
Department of Homeland Security, APPNA members discussed
problems faced by other Pakistani students and urged them
to help relax restrictions on student visas.
“So far APPNA focused mainly on helping physicians
but now we are expanding our activities,” he said.
“We want to work with the Pakistani community in the
US in realizing our civil rights.”
He said that every year APPNA held a day on Capitol Hill,
lobbying US lawmakers on issues concerning Pakistan, not
just physicians. “This year, about 50 lawmakers participated
in our program on the Hill,” he said.
Dr Piracha said that after a strong show of bilateral support
for the Indo-US nuclear deal on the Hill, APPNA had decided
to become more active for promoting Pakistani causes. “We
support Pakistan’s demand for a similar deal with
the US and we are willing to lobby for this,” he said.
Dr Piracha said that APPNA was currently building a rehabilitation
hospital in Rawalpindi and planned to build another in Mansehra
to help earthquake victims. These hospitals will be attached
to the existing larger hospitals. “We want to build
similar wings attached to other hospitals as well to help
general patients,” he said.
APPNA, he said, had also started a telemedicine program
that allowed physicians and patients in Pakistan to consult
specialists in the US on complicated medical problems. These
telemedicine centers will not only be attached to existing
teaching hospitals but will also cover areas where there
are no teaching hospitals, such as Gilgit where APPNA has
already started a tele-consultation program.
After the earthquake, APPNA has sent $600,000 in cash and
$5 million worth of equipment for providing treatment to
the victims, Mr Piracha said.
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