YouTuber Karl Rock blacklisted from India for a year, officials say visa cancelled for ‘violating norms’: Report

Karl Rock gained recognition about the Indian public after he donated plasma at a Delhi Hospital during the COVID-19 first wave (Source: Karl Rock's vlog on YouTube)

New Zealand national, but India residing YouTuber Karl Edward Rice, more commonly known by his moniker ‘Karl Rock’, has been barred from entering India for a year.

Rock is married to an Indian and lived in Delhi on an X-2 visa, meant for spouses and children of Indian nationals. The visa which was valid till 2024 has also been cancelled. Rock and Malik have been married since 2019 and he has resided in Pitampura till 2020.

In a video on his channel, Rock said the government blocked his entry to the country and separated him from his wife Manisha Malik and his in-laws, whom he has “not seen in 269 days”.

Besides the video he also started a change.org petition to regain entry into India, the report said. Detailing his side of the story in the petition, Rock wrote he left India in October 2020 to visit Dubai and Pakistan, and his visa was cancelled at the airport while leaving.

“They wouldn’t tell me why. So in Dubai I applied for a new visa. They called me in for a meeting and told me I am blacklisted and they couldn’t issue me a visa to go home,” he said. He added that he was not given notice for the reason of blacklisting nor time to reply.

An official from the Ministry of Home Affairs told ANI that Rock has been barred for a year and his visa is cancelled for “violating terms of the visa”, among which included doing business on a tourist visa.

The X-2 visa Rock was issued requires the holder to exit India every 180 days or intimate the concerned Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) concerned, but his last entry into India was in November 2019. Thus the visa was cancelled while he was exiting the country from the Delhi International Airport in October 2020.

Rock gained recognition about the Indian public after he donated plasma at a Delhi Hospital during the COVID-19 first wave and recorded the process and shared it on YouTube encouraging others to follow. The video was also shared by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in July 2020.