ISLAMABAD: The Chinese Embassy on Wednesday clarified that its consular service hall had been closed due to technical reasons. The clarification came amidst speculations about the reasons behind the closure with some claiming that it was forced by a security breach.

The consular service hall was closed on Monday (Feb 13). The Embassy emphasised that the Consular Section, however, continues to operate normally and visa matters were being handled through the Gerry’s Visa Centre.

“Gerry’s Visa Centre remains open and operates every working day. Embassy visa service will not be affected,” it said.

A source, meanwhile, reminded that the visa and attestation services for Pakistani nationals was even before the temporary closure of the consular service hall taking place through Gerry’s and that the Hall opened once a week primarily for providing passport services to the Chinese nationals residing in Pakistan.

The source said a system upgrade was in progress and it could take up to two weeks before the consular service hall is reopened for public dealing.

It may be mentioned here that Third Avenue adjacent to the Chinese embassy has been closed since December after a bomb blast in I-10/4 sector of the capital.

The source insists that the closure had nothing to do with security and was purely due to technical reasons.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2023