NABILA: Embassies are money making schemes

Have you ever applied for a visa abroad? Did you get it? How much did you pay just to be told “you do not qualify to visit our country?”

There is an increasing trend of embassies (especially those of Western countries) accepting large numbers of applications and denying even more applications. Why?

The answer is complicated but simple enough for us to deduce one thing; “Africans are too poor to travel to other countries but we can sell them the dream.”

Most of us have seen the widely circulated video from a press conference held by a staff member from the American embassy in Nairobi last week.

The video of Natalia Rincon, a deputy consular chief and person in charge of the visa section sparked a lot of debate on the matter.

Rincon said Kenyans could apply for the Fifa World Cup visa when they met all the requirements. The first requirement being that one must hold a ticket to attend the World Cup.

Secondly, purchasing a ticket is not enough to guarantee you holding the visa. Thirdly, having a US visa does not entitle one to entry into the United States. I think that was enough for most of us to make up our minds on the matter.

The American embassy in Nairobi is not new to scandals and controversy. A couple of years ago they were trending on how they had appointment dates that were at least a year out.

Before that they were called out for delaying Ferdinand Omanyala’s visa when he was scheduled to take part in the World Athletics Championships. Applying for a visa to America from Nairobi is like scratching a lottery ticket and hoping to win a billion shillings.

You see, embassies are a liaison front that claims to foster understanding and cooperation between host country and guest country. However the embassies of foreign countries in Africa have proven over time that they are there simply for the welfare of their own people and to make money off of Africans.

All the embassies of foreign countries will accept applications as well as the application fee, often averaging $100, but will not guarantee your visa approval.

These embassies will make you go through the hustle of getting documents, having them certified and paying tens of thousands in application fees only to reject you for ambiguous reasons.

Just last year, my husband and I applied for someone to visit us as we prepared to welcome our second baby. We not only supplied the relevant embassy with all the paperwork indicated from the checklist, we provided more than needed supporting documents only for the person to receive the infamous ‘pinkslip’ of rejection.

In a fit of anger, I wrote a letter to the embassy basically asking “what more do you need?” I had supplied everything possible up to and including my admission letter for the hospital clearly indicating the date I will be admitted for surgery.

I did not beg or plead, I expressed myself as an exasperated tax paying resident of a foreign country with no family, simply asking for a relative to visit to help us during a difficult period.

While I understand that it is not a right to be guaranteed entry into a foreign country, it is also a basic right to be treated fairly. Most of these countries treat us like criminals who will disappear into their precious land and take up all their resources. When in reality those of us living abroad pay a hefty price to live here and we pay good money to apply for our families to visit us.

So for those who have something to prove and will be applying for the visa world cup in America, Canada and Mexico, you’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth; do it at your own risk.