Five Pakistani citizens residing in Kerala’s Kozhikode and Kannur have been allowed to stay back until the outcome of their applications for long-term visas is known.

Hamsa, Khamarunnisa, Asma, Hiba Fathima and Rabiya were initially told to return to Pakistan in keeping with the home ministry’s directive following the Pahalgam terror attack.

The exit deadline for 12 categories of short-term visa holders ended on Sunday. However, police informed the five Pakistani nationals that they could stay back until a decision was taken on their visa applications.

Hamsa, 78, was born in Kerala. Seeking greener pastures, a young Hamsa had gone to East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, in 1965 and later started a teashop with his brother in Karachi. He took Pakistani citizenship in 1972 when he needed a passport to return home. In 2007, Hamsa decided to settle in Kozhikode and applied for Indian citizenship. However, his application was rejected. An undeterred Hamsa applied for a long-term visa. When his visa expired, Kerala High Court permitted him to stay back.

“The Kozhikode rural police informed us on Sunday that we can stay back. He is not keeping well and is resting,” Hamsa’s wife told The Telegraph.

Khamarunnisa lives in Vykkilassery while her sister Asma is settled in Kannur. In 1992, they returned to Kerala from Karachi, where their father was a businessman. Rabiya stays in Peruvannamuzhi.

K.E. Baiju, the Kozhikode rural SP, said: “They are awaiting the outcome of their long-term visa applications.”