Visa Camp Facilitators Enthralled by the Youngest Registered Visitor, a 4-Week-Old, and a Nonagenarian Senior
By Tahir Ali
Photo courtesy Fauzia Sayeed
Wayland : Pakistan Association of Greater Boston (PAGB), in collaboration with the Consulate General of Pakistan, New York and the Pakistan Consulate Boston, held a Consular/Visa Services Camp for the Greater Boston American-Pakistani community at the Islamic Center of Boston (ICB), Wayland, over the weekend of June 5th and 6th.
Close to 100 visitors showed up over the weekend, according to Muhammad Ashraf Rajput (Consular Attaché), and this was one of the highest numbers he had witnessed in the Boston area. It was the sixth visa camp organized in Boston.
It was close to 11:00AM on Sunday, when a senior member of the community, struggled his way and found a seat. Siraj Khan, approached him and asked if he needed any help, which he declined because his son, parking his car, was expected to join him soon.
Then close to noon, a family made their way in, with the mother holding a 4-week-old baby girl. Fauzia Sayeed, Director Social Affairs, PAGB, greeted the family and discovered that they had come to register their 4-week old baby Innaya. The mother, Zainab seen holding Innaya, told Fauzia that they were very happy to get this task done right here instead of traveling to New York with a baby, especially in pandemic conditions. One could easily feel their relief and gratefulness.
There were many other happy visitors. To quote a few:
Mona Ahmad: "The Camp was very helpful and I was able to get the notarization done. Also, the two gentlemen who helped me were very nice and professional.
I think it is a great service to offer us, really saves us a trip!
“Thank you for organizing and it was nice catching up with you as well. And the power outage was a nice special effect, we can thank the heat wave for that too.”
Soulat Ghani: “ I'm writing to you in relation to this weekend's Visa Camp at the Islamic Society of Boston, Wayland. Unfortunately, I realized a few moments ago that one had to pre-register for this event. I was hoping to be able to bring my mom over today (Saturday) as she needs to have a document notarized. Given her age and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this event would help in getting this task completed safely and efficiently. Please let me know if it's still possible to benefit from this event. Your help and attention to this request is greatly appreciated.”
Soulat Ghani's response to Siraj's post-visit enquiry: “Yes, Alhamdulillah we were able to have the document attested.
“Jazak Allahu Khairan and thank you again for your help in this matter and for helping arrange this facility and in general your service to the Pakistani community in the Greater Boston area. This service in particular is very convenient and helpful. Hopefully, we’ll get to meet again in the near future Insha Allah. Wa as Salaam.”
Saba Janjua from Manchester, NH. “Thank you for providing an excellent platform for the provision of the Pakistan consulate services to the Pakistani community. I was able to get my work done successfully. I do feel that such services should be provided on a regular basis rather than annually so that the Pakistani community can have timely access to such services to be able to get their work done comfortably without wasting their time, money and energy.”
The team from the Consulate General New York included: Nawab Adil Khan (Deputy Consul General), Muhammad Ashraf Rajput (Consular Attaché) and Mr Adnan Ahmed (Consular Assistant). Adil Khan and Barry Hoffman were very appreciative of the Islamic Center Boston's collaboration, and "were truly grateful to ICB for allowing the use of their facility, which was so well located and well known in the community."
Ashraf Rajput remarked, "This is my sixth time conducting the camp, and it was always very much liked. It saves time, especially parking in NY which can be a nightmare, and it really gets more difficult if you are with the family. So instead of them coming to us we are coming to them. It's an outreach."
PAGB President, Siraj Khan said, "We appreciate the cooperation of ICB Wayland for allowing us to host this event at their premises and the Consulates Barry D. Hoffman and Shahid Ahmed Khan for helping us arrange the Consulate's team's visit from NY." Siraj added, "This event was arranged for the convenience of residents in the New England area, to facilitate access to Consular Services and we have particularly factored in the busy travel season ahead, so that members of the community can take timely advantage of it.”
The Camp provided various consular services: attestation, notarization, birth certificates, and birth registration, etc.
Siraj Khan and Fauzia Sayeed were present on both days, and were joined on Sunday by the rest of the PAGB Team. Fauzia Sayeed, who also took the opportunity to reach out to potential PAGB members, said that she was happy to see people returning satisfied. This Camp Office had saved their whole day. According to Fauzia, "everything went smoothly and calmly. Some people who came to obtain visas, expected it to be stamped on their passports. They were informed by the Consulate staff that with the recently commenced online visa facility, they were expecting people to utilize the user-friendly feature, which helps people to avoid going to the New York Consulate to renew their passport or get a visa stamped."
Barry Hoffman was pleased that all went well and told Siraj: "We work well together. I consider PAGB to be the voice of the community.” Siraj Khan requested DCG Nawab Adil Khan to send PAGB the new online visa application process in writing to ensure that nothing slipped through the cracks. Any information shared with the Members and the community at large was based entirely on what is received from the Pak Embassy or CGNY and this was a policy which we would like to continue.
The Consulate officials were so delighted to see the smooth operation and the outcome that they felt another visa camp should be done during the Christmas break. So don't be surprised if you find a ribbon-wrapped gift package under the Christmas Tree.
