The UK Home Office has rejected a request by PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for an extension in his visa, the PML-N confirmed on Thursday. Nawaz Sharif has no problem in staying in the UK as long as he wants to on three grounds: 18 months legal permission to stay on for medical reasons, dependency factor and investment option if the former two reasons do not work.
"The UK Home Office has excused itself from further extending Muhammad Nawaz Sharif's visa," PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement.
She said the Home Office had stated that Nawaz could file an appeal against this decision in the immigration tribunal."Nawaz Sharif's lawyers have filed the appeal in the British immigration tribunal," Aurangzeb added.
She said the Home Office's order would remain "without effect" until a decision on the appeal, and that "Nawaz Sharif can reside in the UK legally until the appeal is decided."Nawaz has been living in London since November 2019 after he was allowed to leave the country for medical treatment.
Sources told Dawn.com that Nawaz has been living in Britain on a valid visa. It is not clear when that visa expires but sources said it has a long validity.
However, a non-UK citizen cannot remain in the UK for more than six months at a time. Nawaz had been applying for — and receiving — extensions in his stay till now, when his latest application for extension filed through a lawyer was denied, according to the sources.
If the PML-N supremo's appeal is turned down by the immigration tribunal, he has the option of filing an appeal in court.
In December last year, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Mirza Shahzad Akbar had told a press conference that Pakistan had written a letter to the UK for the cancellation of Nawaz Sharif's visa, which was issued for medical treatment after taking an undertaking. The six-month visa had not been extended by the UK, he had said at the time, adding that negotiations were continuing with UK for the deportation of Nawaz.
