Pakistan’s embassy in Sweden has suspended visa operations for multiple countries after it emerged that hundreds of visas had been offered to Afghan nationals on bogus documentation.

The Foreign Office confirmed that visa operations have been suspended on Tuesday.

According to initial details 1,600 visas were issued to Afghan nationals who carried fake Swedish residence permits. All the visas were issued through the Pakistani embassy in Sweden.

The Foreign Office has suspended all the visa already issued and also instructed its missions throughout Europe not to issue any more visas to Afghan nationals.

However, in the embassy itself where the scandal occurred, all visa operations have been suspended. This means that even people of Pakistani origin are facing difficulties in getting visas to visit the country.

The embassy’s website has also put up a message of ‘Temporary Closure of Services’.

A representative of the foreign office confirmed that the visa operations had been suspended after ‘problems’ in the system had come to the surface. However, they clarified that the the suspension is temporary and will be lifted soon.

This story is being updated.