The European Union (EU) office has issued a “fraud alert” to warn Pakistanis about “criminal organizations” spreading misleading information about visas and consular appointments through fake embassy entries and fake phone numbers.
Speaking to and consular appointments, including false telephone numbers. .
“This is a serious scam by criminal organizations,” the office warned, stressing that citizens should only trust authentic information and contact details available on the websites of member states’ embassies of the EU.
“The EU Delegation would like to emphasize that only the embassy websites of the EU Member States provide authentic information and contact details for all visa and consular matters of the respective countries, and not entries in Google Maps or in other embassy directories”, she concludes.
According to the official EU website, the borderless Schengen area allows free movement for more than 400 million EU citizens, as well as many third-country nationals, businessmen, tourists and others. persons legally present in the territory of the EU.
He also highlighted that the EU Delegation to Pakistan does not issue passports or visas, as these are issued by the embassy and/or consulate of each member state.
He noted that Pakistani citizens need a Schengen visa to travel to Schengen countries and a national visa to travel to EU member states outside the Schengen zone.
“At present, the Schengen area includes most EU member states, with the exception of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania. However, Bulgaria and Romania are currently in the process of joining the Schengen area.”
Among non-EU states, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland have joined the Schengen area and Liechtenstein is expected to join soon.
The Schengen visa allows the visitor to enter a country and travel freely throughout the Schengen zone.
The office advised Pakistanis to contact the concerned embassy or consulate in the country to obtain the required visa for their travel destination in Europe.