The former wife of incarcerated ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to facilitate the issuance of visas for her sons so they could travel to Pakistan and visit their father.
In a post on X, Jemima Goldsmith claimed her sons Sulaiman and Kasim had applied for visas in January, adding the consulate usually processes online visa applications within 7-10 working days. “It has now been 60 days. This despite the public promise that they could safely travel there to see their father after four years, made by both Defense Minister Khawaja Asif to [journalist] Mehdi Hasan and P.M. spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi to [journalist] Yalda Hakim,” she wrote.
Goldsmith claimed Sulaiman and Kasim were not being permitted to speak to their incarcerated father on the phone, nor send him a letter. “They haven’t seen him since 2022 after he was shot in an assassination attempt,” she added.
“This is an appeal directly to Pakistan’s P.M. [Shehbaz Sharif] to please allow Imran Khan’s two sons to see their father ASAP, particularly since, by all accounts, his health is in decline,” she said.
Kasim and Sulaiman initially sought visas to travel to Pakistan in August 2025, telling Piers Morgan they had applied but not yet received them. Khan’s sister, Aleema, subsequently claimed they would use their NICOP to visit Pakistan, but later said they had lost the documents and were now seeking visas instead.
In December, the two sons told Hakim they wished to visit Pakistan in January, reiterating they had applied for fresh visas.
The incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder is suffering from an eye ailment that his lawyer, and Supreme Court amicus curiae Salman Safdar, claimed had left him with just 15% vision in his right eye. According to statements issued by physicians treating him, his vision has since improved.