Daily Times

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday confirmed the theft of 1,000 Schengen visa stickers from Italian embassy in Islamabad.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shared information with the relevant departments for an appropriate action on the theft of Schengen visa stickers from Italian embassy in Islamabad,” Foreign Office confirmed on Tuesday.

In response to questions by journalists, FO Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said the theft of visa stickers was reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the foreign diplomatic mission, after which the information was immediately shared with the relevant departments. “The information was immediately shared with the relevant authorities for taking appropriate action in this regard,” he said.

According to reports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the Interior Ministry and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on report of around 1,000 visa stickers stolen from the locker room of Italian embassy this month. The relevant departments have been requested to keep track of the visa stickers at all entry and exit points and report any seizure to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As per available information, 750 stolen visa stickers have serial numbers from ITA041913251 to ITA041914000 and the 250 visa stickers have the numbers from ITA041915751 to ITA041916000.

Reports said Italian authorities are conducting an internal investigation to fix the responsibility for the theft.

A Schengen visa is a short-stay visa that allows a person to travel to any members of the Schengen Area (the European Union), per stays up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes. The Schengen visa is the most common visa for Europe. It enables its holder to enter, freely travel within, and leave the Schengen zone from any of the Schengen member countries. There are no border controls within the Schengen Zone.