The Nairobi US Embassy has gained quite some notoriety for its rapid visa refusal rates. Although visa denials at the US Embassy have no appeal, some decisions are leaving Kenyan applicants with more questions than answers.

In one case, a Kenyan who is a US citizen, has come out to share how his mother was denied a visa renewal at the Nairobi US Embassy. The Kenyan who resides in the US with his family narrated how his mother had previously traveled to the US and returned back home a month before her stay duration expired. Her visa then expired.

Recently, she applied for a visa renewal so that she could travel to the US to attend her grandson’s baptism which has become an essential family tradition. However, her visa renewal request was denied. Apparently, she was told that the Nairobi US Embassy could not give her a new visa because she had overstayed in the US during her previous visit.

Her son now wonders how she could have overstayed when she left a whole month prior to the expiry of her stated stay. Here is what he shared:

“I’m deeply saddened to share that my mom’s visitor visa to the US was denied today at the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. This is especially painful because I was hoping she would be here to attend my baby’s baptism, a moment that means so much to our family.

Here’s the frustrating part: My mom has been to the U.S. before and only stayed 5 months, which was well within the allowed time. Now they’re claiming she overstayed, which isn’t true at all. I even have her return flight tickets to prove it!

I initially applied for her visa renewal online. After waiting, they sent her documents back and told her to go in person to the Embassy in Nairobi. My mom, who lives in a remote village in Homabay, had to make the long and expensive trip all the way to Nairobi… just to have her visa denied. Why couldn’t they reject it online in the first place and save her the trouble?

It’s heartbreaking to think that, as U.S. citizens, we can’t even have our own parents visit their grandkids for important family events. Is this really what we’ve come to?

If anyone has advice or has been through something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing from you. This just doesn’t make sense.

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Here is what Kenyans who responded said:

My mum was denied and my brother was in ICU for 7months. She didn’t see him till he passed on and was brought back home for burial. Since then, I don’t know how I feel about this US Embassy! My heart still hurt and it’s one year down. – Eve.

How many days was she granted at the port of entry? A common misconception is that a visitor visa automatically allows a 6-month stay, but this isn’t always the case. The length of stay depends on what is specified on your I-94. Sometimes, it’s just a few weeks or a month. – Awuor

I think the mistake many people tend to make is that once they are given the M visa, they ignore the number of days they claimed they had intended to stay in the country and use the visa as per its validity.

Let us say I apply to come to the US for 2 weeks, then I am given a 5-year M visa. The first visit I should only stay for two weeks as I had requested, then exit. Now, considering my visa is till active, I can then visit again and this time round I am allowed to stay for as long as I want, but within the validity of the visa. This way, I avoid the possibility of rejection upon renewal application. Second, do not allow your visa to expire without using it because it becomes challenging to renew. That said, write an email to the embassy and explain yourself. Sometimes they reconsider their decision. – Rapudo

You’ll be given a 6-month or 2-year or 5-year visa whatever the case might be, but they wait to see if you’ll stay for as long as you indicated in your application. If you said you intend to visit for 2 months then you should travel go back within the 2 months even if you got a 5-year visa. That’s the point a lot of people aren’t understanding. It becomes a reason for your next visa application rejection. – Matthias

What did she say or indicate as her intended number of days? Amazingly, the I-94 may indicate that she was allowed or given 6 months, even after saying or indicating that her intended number of days were 2 weeks or a month, but ended up staying for 5 months. This may as well be a reason for denial, just maybe! – Were

The US embassy is unique nowadays. I’ve heard and witnessed several visa denials from people who’ve been there as many as 5 times. I’m not sure what the criteria is. Very stringent. I’m really sorry. My niece who is a continuing student was denied visa when she came to renew to finish her elective in medicine. She was told she doesn’t need to; she’s still depressed. I really don’t know who gets visas nowadays. – Diane

When you have a valid visit visa, during the application and port of entry, the question of how many days you’ll be visiting is the issue. If you say a month and stay 5 months regardless of the validity of your visa, then it means you lied in the first instance. You would also need to justify what you will be doing during the duration of your stay. If say you say and show an itinerary for a month, what were you doing the other extra four months? That’s where the problem is. – James.