US embassy to Algeria warns against intermediaries to get visas

The American consul to Algiers, Jennifer Noisette, was dismissive to the allegations that the her country’s consulate sealed a deal with travel agencies and consulting bureaus to facilitate the task for visas applicants and the acquisition of the “Green Card” in a move to migrate uncle Sam country.

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• Noisette has indicated that “ The individuals who express the will to apply for a visa entry to the US have to it on their own through the embassy and stand personally for all the procedures; to avoid any denial and a waste of time and energy”.
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• Taking the floor before journalists yesterday at the US embassy here in Algiers, she added” Some believe that passing through travel agencies and other specialized bureaus would augment their chances to get a visa or the Green card, but it’s not true because the consulate deals directly with the applicants without intermediaries”.
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• She has indicated that some agencies neglect to provide answers to compulsory questions on the form minimizing thus the chances to get a visa for the applicants. The US diplomat has revealed that 23% of the overall applications were denied over the year 2009, but the number of the granted visas for the Algerians is on the constant rise from a year to another.
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• 1089 visas were issued in 2009 in comparison with 1048 in 2008 and 562 in 2007, she said.
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• Jennifer Noisette didn’t deny cases of forgery on the applicant’s dossiers indicating that this is one of the reasons behind the refusal. She has insisted on the role of the applicants to convince the consulate that they are genuine tourists and not vulgar illegal immigrants.
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• For his part, the consulate Public Relations Officer John Brown has denied the news reported on the New York Times in relation to the American intelligence activities in North Africa and the use of private operators to spy for the US authorities.
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