United States ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman has promised to expedite the VISA application process for Kenyans seeking the permit.
In her first media address, Whitman said that the US embassy was aware of the long waiting time and to has promised come up with a solution.
“I am aware of the very long waiting times that Kenyans experience when applying for VISAs to the US. The situation is unacceptable. We need to find ways to expedite those VISA applications. I promise you that we (the US Embassy in Kenya) will find ways to accelerate the process. That will be one of my top priorities,” Whitman told the media.
“The Embassy will see through this as soon as possible,” she added.
This comes amid social media complaints of a slow process after Top athletes like African champion Ferdinand Omanyala had not been issued with their visas hours before the start of the world athletics championships.
It would later emerge that the American embassy had refused to issue extra visas after it occurred the list given by the Ministry of Sports had exceeded the 80 that was approved by Athletics Kenya (AK).
US embassy in Nairobi told all those who intended to travel to the country from Kenya to wait until June 2024 to secure a visitor’s visa appointment.
According to the US embassy in Nairobi, all the other dates have been booked.
Through a statement posted on its website, the embassy told applicants to expect delays in most stages of visa processing.
The embassy narrated that the interruptions were caused by a significant backlog of applications resulting from closures due to COVID-19.
“The next available dates for a visitor visa appointment in Nairobi are in June 2024. US Embassy Nairobi recognises the significant challenges and frustrations this poses for Kenyans planning to visit the United States,” read the statement.
However, the embassy said it was aware that many visa applicants had paid the visa application-processing fee and were waiting to schedule a visa appointment and thus were speeding up the process.
The US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs says the average waiting period for a US visitor visa appointment in Nairobi is 687 days.
This compared to other countries triples the average wait time for a US traveler visa in London.
The statement by the US embassy claims that due to the Covid-19 health and safety measures, on-migrant visa interviews at the Nairobi office ceased for over a year and interviews only restarted at full capacity in February.
It further noted that since resuming operations, the mission in Nairobi had doubled the number of daily interventions adding that they would continue to add more staff and increase capacity over time.
“As we work through the backlog of the applications and address the high demand for services, we recognise that some applicants may face extended visa interview wait timers. This is a worldwide problem that the US embassies are diligently striving to address,” the statement added.