From my archive of press clippings:
Trinidad & Tobago Express
Embassy official: 7 out of 10 get US visas...seeks to clear up misconceptions by Muslims
Joel Julien jjulien@trinidadexpress.com
Thursday, June 25th 2009
new beginnings: Zakeya Hosein, president of the National Muslim Women Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago presents Len Kusnitz, Charge d'Affairs at the United States Embassy, with a copy of the Holy Quran, following a meeting at the Bamboo Mosque in Valsayn yesterday. -Photo: STEPHEN DOOBAY
OUT of ten people that go to the United States Embassy with a visa application in hand, seven of them walk out with a visa on their passport, says Len Kusnitz, the US Embassy's Charge d'Affairs.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
""There are a lot of misconceptions about the embassy; it is being reported that 65 per cent of the people are being denied visas, but that is not the case, in fact, it is the complete opposite; seven out of ten people get visas, that is 70 per cent," Kusnitz said.
However, Kusnitz's figures did little to appease several attendees who recounted personal accounts of visa denial and embarrassment while trying to enter the US."
Showing posts with label Trinidad and Tobago Express. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trinidad and Tobago Express. Show all posts
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
T&TE - Pregnant? No US visa
From my archive of press clippings:
Trinidad & Tobago Express
Pregnant? No US visa
Camille Bethel cbethel@trinidadexpress.com
Monday, December 7th 2009
Non-immigrant visa officers working out of the United States Embassy in Port of Spain were being trained, up to February of this year, to refuse visas to certain groups of applicants.
Among those who had virtually no chance of getting a visa were pregnant women, women who already had a child in the US, and locals going to America for job training.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The actions of the US Embassy officials were illegal, according to an internal inspection done by the US State Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The visa officers were told to follow US visa application laws.
The investigation was done over a two-week period from late January. The inspection took place shortly after former US ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Roy Austin completed his tenure."
"The report detailed the daily operations of the embassy and commented on its strengths and weaknesses. The reported stated, ’Consular section management currently teaches non-immigrant visa officers to refuse visas to certain categories of applicants who should not be refused under visa law.’
It stated, ’Of special sensitivity are routine refusals for newly hired employees of known local and American companies going to the United States for training. These knee-jerk refusals have damaged relations with those companies, many of which do daily business with the embassy.’"
&
"’However, section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act clearly states that, ’every alien’ shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for admission, that he is entitled to a non-immigrant status’, the investigators stated.
’Further,... if you determine an applicant is qualified under the law for a visa, that decision should apply to future trips as well. Suspicion that an alien, after admission, may be swayed to remain in the United States because of more favourable living conditions is not a sufficient ground to refuse a visa as long as the alien’s current intent is to return to a foreign residence,’ the report stated.
The inspectors stated that immigration officers should issue a visa based on an applicant’s travel intentions and not what the application might do in future."
Trinidad & Tobago Express
Pregnant? No US visa
Camille Bethel cbethel@trinidadexpress.com
Monday, December 7th 2009
Non-immigrant visa officers working out of the United States Embassy in Port of Spain were being trained, up to February of this year, to refuse visas to certain groups of applicants.
Among those who had virtually no chance of getting a visa were pregnant women, women who already had a child in the US, and locals going to America for job training.
Read the whole article here.
Snippet(s):
"The actions of the US Embassy officials were illegal, according to an internal inspection done by the US State Department’s Office of the Inspector General. The visa officers were told to follow US visa application laws.
The investigation was done over a two-week period from late January. The inspection took place shortly after former US ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Roy Austin completed his tenure."
"The report detailed the daily operations of the embassy and commented on its strengths and weaknesses. The reported stated, ’Consular section management currently teaches non-immigrant visa officers to refuse visas to certain categories of applicants who should not be refused under visa law.’
It stated, ’Of special sensitivity are routine refusals for newly hired employees of known local and American companies going to the United States for training. These knee-jerk refusals have damaged relations with those companies, many of which do daily business with the embassy.’"
&
"’However, section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act clearly states that, ’every alien’ shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for admission, that he is entitled to a non-immigrant status’, the investigators stated.
’Further,... if you determine an applicant is qualified under the law for a visa, that decision should apply to future trips as well. Suspicion that an alien, after admission, may be swayed to remain in the United States because of more favourable living conditions is not a sufficient ground to refuse a visa as long as the alien’s current intent is to return to a foreign residence,’ the report stated.
The inspectors stated that immigration officers should issue a visa based on an applicant’s travel intentions and not what the application might do in future."
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