It’s a case of mistaken identity, but the actor has to wait for his fingerprint test results before getting his visa to the US.
It’s a case of mistaken identity, but the actor has to wait for his fingerprint test results before getting his visa to the US.
Mohammed Iqbal Khan will never forget September 5. He was waiting in queue to get an American visa stamped on his passport along with 14 television actors when the nightmare started.
The rest of the group, which included Mona Singh, Sharad Kelkar and his wife Keerti, Kanchi Kaul and Saakshi, were out of the line in less than a minute, so Iqbal assumed his clearance would be just as prompt. But when his name was logged into the computers it started flashing a red alert — apparently the database matched his name with that of a fugitive on the ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ list!
Recounting his shocking experience Iqbal said, “The minute I handed the papers to the lady at the counter and she typed in my name, I knew something had gone wrong. The lady was very polite and asked me if I was famous because my profile mentioned that I was an actor. I said, ‘kind of’. Then she asked if people would recognise me. I didn’t have to answer that as the people inside the room had been waving to me to get my attention.”
But the popularity test wasn’t the end of the matter. “The lady explained to me that I would have to undergo a fingerprint test. She added that it could take anywhere between a month to six months for the results to come in. I explained to her that a lot of money was at stake for the promoters of the event and a no-show on my part would put a lot of them in financial trouble. The lady spoke to her supervisiors and luckily, they immediately got back to me saying that they would expedite the process as they could see that it was clearly a case of mistaken identity,” says Iqbal.
Iqbal took the fingerprint test and has faith that he’ll be getting a green signal soon from the embassy and keep his date with his fans in the US and Canada. “I am a Kashmiri Indian citizen and proud to be one. I am not going to change my name because of this incident. I do not have to prove my bonafides. I have faith in the system and hope to hear from the US Embassy very soon,” he said.
But this isn’t the first time that Iqbal’s visa has been rejected. Two months ago, the UK embassy had also turned down his request for a visa. He attributed it to the TV channel not submitting all his papers for the final approval.
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