Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Gleaner Writer

The United States Embassy in St Andrew has moved to create a forum to foster better community relations and a deeper understanding of its visa application process. Yesterday, under the banner 'Open House', the embassy flung its doors open to the public, providing ready information to those in attendance.

Scores of persons, mainly members of the public, took the opportunity to question the rules of the embassy regarding visa policy and immigration regulations.

Tighter border control in the United States since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has resulted in stricter immigration polices to reduce terrorism and criminal activity in that country. This has impacted on many Jamaicans who have not been granted visas to travel to the United States.

In 2006, 6,285,783 visas were issued by the US Department of Homeland Security. The office of immigration statistics show that some 75,758 of these were granted to Jamaicans. Among them, 10,861 were permanent visas. This was a drop from the 13,042 granted in 1996.

Strict criteria

An immigration officer who wished to remain anonymous, told The Gleaner that before filing for a visa, the criteria set up by the Immigration Nationality Act (INA) needed to be adhered to as strictly as possible.

"For example, if someone says they are married, we have to establish that these relationships exist, as some people engage in these associations solely for immigration purposes. If a biological relationship exists, this is the baseline for the visa requirement, and also, the petitioner must be alive for the duration of the process," she said.

Ineligibilities range from criminal and health-related grounds to fraud and embezzlement. However, the INA facilitates special circumstances and waivers.

The matter of Jamaican entertainers with criminal records being granted visas, while other persons with clean records are turned away, was raised. The officer explained that a visa is only permission to ask for entry into the US: "We simply help facilitate the application of visas. No matter what visa you're after the INA and Homeland Security determine port of entry."

Susanne Wilson, non-immigration visa chief officer, explained further that visa entry to entertainers with criminal records was dependent "on the US law, which is strict and outlines what can and can't be waived. Whether or not you are performing and being paid it's a specific performance visa which the promoter petitions through Homeland Security for this access."

Some members of the public complained about the long lines outside the embassy caused by a backlog of appointments.

Despite this issue being a sore point among persons attending the embassy, the officer asserted: "No facilities will be provided. Instead, we are trying to make sure appointments are made at suitable and convenient times."