<<Print>>The embassy of The United States of America (USA) has incurred the wrath of Ghanaians and other Africans who apply for visas to the country. Their interview process towards the issuance of entry clearance has been described a hasty one, which purpose is to deliberately refuse them visas.
Sources say failure on the part of the visa applicant to offer a convincing response to the very first question asked, will result in the end of the interview. They simply tell you, “I am sorry.” “They are exploiting Ghanaians. The visa application fee is GH560. When I went for an interview in September, this year, there were about 300 applicants there. This should tell you the amount of money they make each day,” a source said.
Complaints have also been made about how unfriendly the interviewers are, to visa applicants. Information available to The Chronicle is that, they shout and scream at applicants as if they are third class humans.
As soon as you give contrary information to their expectation, some Ghanaians with whom they work, walk up to the applicant and pulls him/her away. There is nothing an applicant can do at this point.
The worst culprit known to mete out such ill treatment to US visa applicants is a lady in her early 20s who operates form window 12 at the embassy. A gentleman believed to be between 25 and 30 years, handling window 11, also engages inhumane treatment towards the visa applicants.
“When I went there for an interview, the lady asked me one question which I was unable to answer, so she sacked me. She always frowns her face when interacting with applicants,” one of the sources revealed.
The source suggested to the embassy to at least refund part of the application fee, should an applicant fail the interview.
“When you are refused the visa, why don’t they give part of the money to you?” she asked rhetorically.
One of the sources hinted that no considerations are given to applicants to be interviewed, on the basis of the time given to them to appear.
For instance, applicants whose times for interview are 7am, 8am and 10pm – are all expected to report a the same time, form queues anyhow, as they wait for their names to be mentioned for the interview. This situation causes overcrowding and unnecessary congestion in the hall.
Again, after applicants have been searched and screened at the entrance of the embassy, they are not allowed to carry anything along with them into the hall. If you feel thirsty, for example, you would have to hold on until you finish with your interview session.
“You cannot carry bottled water or food. If they don’t want us to carry water, then they must provide us with water in the hall,” the sources said.
Also of concern is the non-performance given to the elderly. The obviously old persons are made to stand in the queue, together with the young and energetic people under the scorching sun; until such time that they are called in.
Also, during the interview sessions, the applicants are not given any privacy; People freely listen to the interaction that goes on between the interviewers and the applicants.
“There is no privacy at all, even when interviews are on-ongoing,” the source posited.
All efforts made by the editorial team to get the reaction of the US Embassy proved futile. Though a text message was sent to a known face at the Embassy, it was not responded to. Two follow up calls to the Public Affairs Department could also not yield any positive result.