Monday, December 1, 2003
Visa Rules Inhuman, Uganda Tells UK, US
By WAIRAGALA WAKABI
THE EASTAFRICAN
UGANDA HAS protested to the British and US embassies in Kampala against what it terms the dehumanising process Ugandans wishing to get visas to visit those countries have go through.
At the same time, the country's Foreign Affairs Ministry has asked the two missions to stop charging visa fees for unsuccessful applicants and stamping rejection annotations in their passports.
Deo Turyahebwa, an official at the ministry, confirmed to The EastAfrican that it had written a protest note to the two missions. "There was a general complaint about how the two missions were treating our people," he said.
The EastAfrican learnt that Foreign Affairs Minister James Wapakhabulo called earlier in November the British High Commissioner to Uganda, to complain about a visa incident concerning Vice President Gilbert Bukenya's wife. On August 21, Prof Bukenya and his wife Margaret failed to get UK transit visas in time to make their journey to Italy, reportedly because the VP had no visa for Italy and his wife had not paid the visa fee of $65.
"It was a very sensitive matter and the ministry stopped short of summoning the High Commissioner," a source said. In April this year, Attorney General Francis Ayume failed to get a UK transit visa while on the way to The Hague and had to pass through Amsterdam instead.
On August 13, 2002, Uganda's Foreign Ministry wrote to both the UK and the US governments, telling them that "the visa process should be humane."
The letter said the American visa processing mechanism was intimidating to Ugandans.
Mark Schlacter of the US embassy in Kampala, however, told The EastAfrican that all the officers currently providing visa services are "consistently considerate and professional."
He said he was not aware of the Foreign Ministry's complaint, but confirmed that the current head of the visa section came to Uganda in September. It was not possible to verify reports that the State Department had withdrawn the former counsellor because of Uganda's complaint.
Mr Schlacter said that the US visa process has improved over the past few months, adding that applicants are now interviewed at the embassy even without appointments. He said a new system, new equipment and "professional" staff ensured processing of applications was expedited.
Uganda last November became one of the first countries in the world where visa applicants are fingerprinted. The British High Commission announced last week that beginning December 1, a firm called Visa Handling Services Uganda Ltd will be contracted to receive applications and fees for UK visas. The move had been prompted by "unprecedented increases in the level of demand for visas to the UK," plus concerns over security and customer care.
But Christine Kyosiimire, the Press and Public Affairs Officer at the High Commission, said she did not have figures on the number of Ugandans applying for visas. She also said she was not aware of Mr Wapakhabulo's meeting with the High Commissioner and the Foreign Ministry's protest note. She said officials of the visa section who may have had the information were not available.
Ugandans have in the past had to queue outside the High Commission's visa section from as early as midnight in order to be among the about 100 applicants attended to each day. The ministry's letter said a passport issued to a Ugandan remains the property of the Uganda government, therefore it should never be "defaced" when a visa is denied. The missions stamp a sign indicating rejection in unsuccessful applicants' passports.
"The denial of a visa to a Ugandan must not be made an international crime by inserting such a denial in the passport, hence prejudicing other countries' consideration," it said. "The practice of internationalising your visa denial should be limited to strictly your internal process and not made to prejudice others.
"In our view, the practice of charging a fee whenever a visa is not issued is punitive, goes contrary to natural justice and is unacceptable to the Uganda government."
Both missions still charge fees to unsuccessful applicants and stamp rejections in their passports. Mr Schlacter said they put a stamp at the back of rejected passports so in future they could tell who applied before. The visa fees of $100 per application was not a local fee but was charged in all US embassies worldwide.
"It is very expensive to process visa applications and these fees enable us to provide the service," he said.
For the 10 months ending November 28, 2003, the US embassy received 5,000 visa applications, slightly over half of which were successful. The figure is similar to the same period last year, though less than that of the year before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US.
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