Pak Consulate General Holds Consular Camp in San Francisco Bay Area
By AbdusSattarGhazali
On November 12, the Consulate General of Pakistan Los Angeles held a Consular Camp in Fremont/Newark, San Francisco Bay Area which has a large concentration of Pakistan-origin Americans.
It was the second Consular Camp in the area. The first was held on March 5. The Consulate General also held another Consular Camp in June this year in Sacramento to cater to the needs of Pakistani-Americans in northern California.
The purpose of holding consular camps is to provide services to the Pakistan community at their doorsteps. The camps are organized with the active support of the Pakistani-American Community of Northern California, according to a Consulate press release.
Mr Abdul JabbarMemon, Consul General of Pakistan at Los Angeles, was present to supervise the Consular Camp operation. He told Pakistan Link that after observing the crowd at the Camp he realized that there should be at least three such Camps every year and not just two as is the practice now. He believes that there should be more consular staff to deal with the paper work.
MrMemon took over as Consul General LA on December 21, 2015.
Mr Elias Khan and MrQadeer Khan, two consular officials, processed the papers. Local volunteers - Dr Sadaf Akhtar, Nomi Dar, Faisal Khan, SamreenQuddus and Zafar Shah - helped them in fulfilling their task.
Shahab Siddiqui, owner of Mehran Restaurant, was the coordinator for the Consular Camp in the area. The Consular Camp is hosted by the Mehran Restaurant which is located at the Balentine Plaza (School Road), Newark, which is a very convenient point in the SF Bay Area.
The Balentine Plaza may be described as the Jackson Heights of SF Bay Area because of concentration of South Asian cousins. It is a hub of South Asian cultural activities such as music programs and fashion shows.
According to Mr Shahab Siddiqui, 170 people registered their name for the consular services. That was an unusually high number, however, the Consular Camp was able to provide service to all. He thanked all the volunteers for donating their time for the community service.
The Consular Camp provides such services as visit visa to Pakistani Americans and attestation of power of attorney.
The Consulate General of Pakistan, Los Angeles, has updated its website. It now provides detailed information about the services offered and requirement of documents for those services. It also provides pdf downloads for the following:
Application Form for Birth Certificate, Request for Duplicate Passport, Lost Passport Memorandum, Lost Passport Report, NICOP tracking and follow up with NADRA Headquarters Islamabad, Renunciation of Pakistani Citizenship, Pakistan Origin Card (POC), Application for Addition/Extension/Amendment in a Passport, Application Form for New Passport, Registration of Birth Form, Online Visa Form, Application Form for Visa for Indian Nationals, Affidavit Form, and Application for Police Clearance and Affidavit forms.
