The American Embassy in Accra has announced a new non-immigrant visa appointment service which takes effect from March 1, 2011.
From that date, all non-immigrant visa applicants are to schedule their appointments through the US Visa Information Service at www.ustraveldocs.com or by calling 233-263011685.
A visa application fee of $140 or its equivalent will now be paid at all Ecobank branches throughout the country and not Standard Chartered Bank (STANCHART) as had been the usual practice.
At a press briefing in Accra yesterday, the Counsellor Chief of the US Embassy, Mr Michael Evans, said the new service was for English-speaking West African countries, namely, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
He said gone were the days when Internet cafe operators hijacked the visa appointment dates on the net and sold them to prospective applicants for a fee.
He said the first step all prospective applicants should take was to pay the visa application fee at any ECOBANK branch, complete the online non-immigrant visa application form (CEAC/DS-160) and then schedule a visa interview appointment at www.ustraveldocs.com or by calling 233-263011685.
Mr Evans said three pieces of information would be required to schedule an appointment — passport number, MRV fee payment receipt and the 10-digit bar code number from the applicant’s DS-160 confirmation page.
He said applicants would then visit the US Embassy in Accra on the date and time of the visa interview, adding that applicants would need to bring a printed copy of the appointment letter, the DS-160 confirmation page, one recent visa photograph, current and all old passports and the original visa fee payment receipt.
Applications without any of these items will not be accepted.
He said applicants were required to collect issued visas in person at the US Embassy in Accra, reiterating that for further information on the US visa process, 'visit www.ustraveldocs.com'.
The counsellor chief stressed that all applicants who had already scheduled visa appointments would not be impacted by the change, while those who had already scheduled appointments through the current online system should bring their Standard Chartered Bank receipts and proceed via the current process.
'Applicants who have paid their MRV fees prior to March 1, 2011 but have not scheduled appointments will have a grace period from March 1, 2011 until April 30, 2011 to use their MRV fees for appointment scheduling,” he said, adding that anyone with an MRV receipt obtained prior to March 1 would have to pay the MRV fee again if he or she had not scheduled an appointment before April 30, 2011.
Mr Evans indicated that having a huge bank account did not guarantee an applicant a US visa and that one had to demonstrate strong ties to one’s country.
He announced that last year 15,000 visas were issued by the embassy.
He also announced that the walk-in renewal service had been cancelled and that all visa renewal applicants would pass through the new service.
