The UK Home Office has turned down a request for a visa extension from PML-N supremo and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Nawaz Sharif has been notified of the UK Home Office’s decision. The former premier, on the other hand, has the right to appeal the decision.
Fawad Chaudhry, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, said in a video message that Pakistan has already asked the UK authorities not to provide asylum to those involved in corruption in the country.
He urged the former prime minister to contact Pakistan’s embassy, obtain a temporary passport, and return to Pakistan to face the courts because his passport had expired.
What Could Happen Next?
Nawaz has been in London since November 2019, when he was granted permission to leave the country for medical reasons.
The Islamabad High Court declared Nawaz a proclaimed criminal in two cases — Avenfield Properties and Al-Azizia — after he failed to appear before the court in December last year. His passport was later revoked by the authorities.
Fawad further said in his message that the way Nawaz has been moving around in British restaurants shows he’s not sick.
“If he tells another lie to extend his visa application, he could be sentenced by British courts,” Fawad added.
نواز شریف اسوقت بیمار نہیں ہیں،انہوں نے جھوٹ بول کر ویزا لیا اوراس ویزے پر وہ برطانیہ میں مقیم تھے۔ پاکستان کی حکومت، عوام اور پاکستانی کمیونٹی کا برطانوی حکومت سے مطالبہ تھا کہ ایسے لوگوں کو پناہ نہ دی جائے جو اربوں روپے کی کرپشن میں ملوث ہوں۔ وفاقی وزیر اطلاعات @fawadchaudhry pic.twitter.com/OyLkf9Ct92
— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 5, 2021
A non-UK citizen cannot stay in the UK for more than six months at a time.
According to the sources, Nawaz has been seeking for — and obtaining — extensions in his stay up until today, when his most recent application, made through a lawyer, was refused.
The former prime minister’s lawyer has filed an appeal for visa extension, according to PML-N’s Marium Aurangzeb.
Ms. Aurangzeb added that until the verdict of the immigration panel comes, Nawaz can legally stay in the UK.
برطانوی محکمہ داخلہ کے فیصلے میں لکھا ہے کہ محمد نوازشریف اس فیصلے کے خلاف امیگریشن ٹریبونل میں اپیل کرسکتے ہیں
قائد محمد نوازشریف کے وکلاءنے برطانوی امیگریشن ٹریبونل میں اپیل دائر کردی ہے
— PML(N) (@pmln_org) August 5, 2021
In case, the immigration panel rejects the PML-N supremo’s appeal, he will still have the option of taking his case to court.