The US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman has spoken on visa delays, refusals and fees at the US Embassy in Nairobi. Ambassador Whitman spoke when she made an appearance at a radio interview that was hosted by Spice FM.
Ambassador Whitman attributed the delay in the processing of spousal visas where one applicant is in the United States and the other is stuck in Kenya on staff shortages that were occasioned by the 2020 pandemic.
“When the pandemic occurred, no one wanted to go anywhere and the consular department is funded by the visa fees. So during the pandemic, visa fees went to nothing and there was no business. All our consular officers went off to the other parts of the American government,” said the US Ambassador.
Ambassador Whitman added that when the demand started to rise again, they had to try and get all those people back again. “When I got here, there was a two-year wait for an interview. We did a lot of business reengineering and got more resources. Then people realized they could get visas again and the demand went back up again,” she said.
She acknowledged that the US Embassy in Nairobi is far behind on spousal visas but is working on a resolution by the end of this year. “It’s more of a timing issue. We do refuse people visas for very good reasons but that’s not the major problem here; it’s actually a resources and processing time issue,” she said.
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She said that the job done by the consular officers is not as easy as many people would assume. “It’s a very difficult job. You are seeing hundreds of people a day. You are trying to make decisions and you are very aware of the cost of being wrong and letting in, for example, the 9/11 hijackers,” said Ambassador Whitman.
“You have to be very thoughtful about doing the right thing, to be fair to people, to be customer oriented and at the same time to be thoughtful about who you let in.”
When asked if the US Embassy could consider full refunds or partial refunds for visa applicants whose applications have been denied, Ambassador Whitman said that this would not happen.
“There is no room for a partial or full refund on the visa fees. That’s not just the way it works,” she said. On reasons for visa refusals, Ambassador Whitman said that there are laws and regulations by the US government on what they can and cannot say. “I think we are making real progress in the job that we do and I think most Kenyans, at least when I am around, will say that at least they were able to get an interview in a couple of months,” she said.
