WASHINGTON, May 8: A Pakistani couple is being deported to the “home country” after 35 years in the United States for overstaying their visas.

US immigration officials took Waheed Hashmi, 69, and his wife, Nusrat Hashmi, 63, from their home in Toledo, Ohio, on April 29 and kept them in a jail in Cleveland until May 7.

They were released on Wednesday and allowed to return home temporarily before deportation to Pakistan.

Greg Palmore, a spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told reporters that Mr Hashmi had come to the United States on a valid student visa in June, 1973. An extension allowed him to stay until September, 1977. Mrs Hashmi was granted the same status as her husband.

Their visas and extensions lapsed. In 1987, an immigration judge ordered the couple to leave, Mr Palmore said. “At some point, they’ll be removed from the United States,” he said.

“They did not abide by the judge’s ruling, and now we will have to remove them at the government’s expense.”

Their daughter, Anita Severance, however, said that her parents worked on gaining legal status for years.

Mr Hashmi, who received his doctorate from Bowling Green State University, directed animal research facilities for more than a decade at the University of Toledo. He retired last year.

He had proper employment authorisation for much of that time and the couple had been fighting through appeals in order to stay, the daughter said.

After another appeal was denied in 2006, “they decided to return to Pakistan,” she said. Mr Hashmi had a job lined up in Lahore but they were picked up before they could do so.

Mr Hashmi has been recovering from prostate cancer and Mrs Hashmi learned recently she has diabetes. The couple has a son and two daughters.

The couple at home will have to report by phone regularly to immigration authorities, Mr Palmore said. “We’ll continue to move forward with the removal process,” he said.

He said he had no information about when they might be deported.