The European Union (EU) office has taken notice of “scams” by “criminal organizations” misleading Pakistanis about visas and consular appointments through fake entries of embassies and telephone numbers.
Taking to X2 (formerly Twitter), the EU delegation in Pakistan issued a “scam alert” on Friday, saying that its “diplomatic missions in Islamabad have displayed member states’ embassies in Google Maps.” Observed fake entries with misleading information about visas for boxes and consular appointments including fake telephone numbers”.
“This is a serious scam by criminal organizations,” the office warned, stressing that citizens should only rely on authentic information and contact data available on the websites of EU member states’ embassies.
“The Delegation of the European Union would like to emphasize that only the websites of the embassies of the Member States of the European Union provide authoritative information and contact data for all visa and consular issues of the countries concerned, and not Google Maps or Entries in other embassy directories,” he concluded.
According to the EU’s official website, the border-free Schengen area provides free movement to more than 400 million EU citizens, as well as many non-EU citizens, traders, tourists or others legally present on EU territory. .
It also highlighted that the EU Delegation to Pakistan does not issue passports or visas as these are issued by each individual Member State’s embassy and/or consulate.
It noted that Pakistani nationals require a Schengen visa to travel within the Schengen area counties and a national visa to travel to EU member states outside the Schengen zone.
“Currently the Schengen area consists of most EU member states, except Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania. However, Bulgaria and Romania are currently in the process of joining the Schengen area.”
Among the non-EU states, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland have joined the Schengen area and Liechtenstein is expected to join soon.
A Schengen visa gives the visitor the right to enter a country and travel freely within the Schengen zone.
The office advised Pakistanis to contact the relevant embassy or consulate in the country to obtain the required visa for their travel destination in Europe.