A Kenyan doctor has written an open letter to the incoming US Ambassador to Kenya, Margaret Whitman, protesting the excessively long time it takes the country’s embassy to process visa applications.
Elizabeth Wala was also deeply concerned about the large sums of money charged in visa application fees that are forfeited by unsuccessful visa applicants or successful applicants who fail to use visas granted long after their intended purpose of travel to the United States.
Wala cited an instance in which one of her daughters was scheduled to travel to the United States for a school competition, only to be scheduled for an interview in 2024 after paying the USD240 visa application fee.
“In June 2022, one of my daughters qualified to attend The World Scholar’s Cup Global Round in Dubai, a debate and creative writing competition. I scraped and scrounged, and she attended the competition. She, thereafter, qualified for the grand finale called the Theatre of Champions in Yale, USA to be held in November 2022,” she stated.
“When we came back, I immediately embarked on a journey to start the VISA process. I needed an invitation letter from the Global Scholar’s Cup which was sent immediately. I then applied in the system for both of us. The total amount of money for the VISA was Ksh. 38,400 (~240USD) I had to borrow from one of the companies I run with my nanny to pay for it.”
Wala chastised the US Visa Section for being insensitive to the strict timelines that some visa applicants face, claiming that the waiting period for interviews prevents most applicants from pursuing the opportunities they seek.
“Of what use was this appointment when the event was in November 2022?” she posed referring to the 2024 interview appointment.
Wala stated that her daughter’s urgent application was denied, denying her the opportunity to compete at the international event despite her request for an expedited appointment.
“I know my daughter will be disappointed. All I am asking is for change in the system to get people to pay when they are due for the appointment; to refund the application fee to people like us who give up when given a two-year waiting date,” she appealed.
Mohamed Hersi, a seasoned hotel manager and tourism stakeholder, echoed her sentiments, calling the nonrefundable Sh38,000 visa application fee “nothing but a diplomatic scam.”
“I am afraid to say that the USA is not very keen to facilitate travel of Kenyans to the US. A good friend with her daughter has been given an appointment date for May 2023, surely what is so technical in that an appointment must be pushed close to one year,” Hersi retorted.
Does it have to take that long with the amount of information requested by the visa sections and all of the AI we have?” He inquired.
Hersi also noted being denied a US visa in 2019, which caused him to miss a tourism conference in the US.
“In 2019 I personally experienced the pain of being denied a US visa, in the process I missed to attend a tourism congress in the US, yet I have been to the US in the past,” he stated.
Hersi questioned why the US visa section does not consider receiving a percentage of the handling fee, preferably 20%, so that only successful applicants pay the remaining visa fee.
He urged the government to work with the US to resolve the serious disparity, adding that “at the very least, the Embassy should treat Kenyans better by not withholding interview dates for a year or so.”
Hersi claimed that an error in visa processing was to blame for Ferdinand Omanyalla missing out on the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
