Continuing to maintain silence on granting visa to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi, the U.S. has said the heads of state and government are eligible for A1 visas and no individual automatically qualifies for an American visa.
“Heads of state and heads of government are eligible for A1 visa classification under the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act). No individual automatically qualifies for a U.S. visa,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.
“U.S. law exempts foreign government officials, including heads of state and heads of government from certain potential inadmissibility grounds,” Ms. Psaki said when asked about the possibility of issuing visa to Mr. Modi, whose party-led National Democratic Alliance is projected by exit polls to form the next government.
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Refusing to go into details, Ms. Psaki refrained from responding to direct questions on Mr. Modi’s visa issue, except for saying that the U.S. looked forward to working with the new Indian government. “We don’t talk about visa applications. We are looking forward to working with the new Indian government when they are elected,” she said. In 2005, the U.S. State Department revoked Mr. Modi’s visa on the ground of alleged human rights violations after the 2002 Gujarat riots.