OVER 5,000 ARMENIANS APPLY FOR U.S. VISAS IN JANUARY-JULY
ARMENPRESS
Aug 16 2007
YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS: The Consulate of the U.S. Embassy in
Armenia said some 5,091 Armenian citizens applied for non-immigrant
visas from January 1 to July 31 of 2007.
It said of 5,091 applicants, 2,115 people received visas (almost
42%), and 2,976 were denied. The Consulate also received a total
of 973 applicants (citizens of Armenia and non-citizens) seeking
non-immigrant visas in July.
During July, as well as the rest of the year, the vast majority
of non-immigrant visas are for tourist visas. For July the number
of tourist visa applications was 791, or 81%. The Consular service
received 39 student visa applications in July, or only 4% of the total.
In Yerevan for the period of January through July there were 383
non-Armenian passport holders (about 7% of the overall total). Of
these, 160 received visas, which works out to nearly the same rate
as for Armenian citizens.
The Consulate said at the moment, the one upcoming change that
will happen soon is the requirement to take all 10 fingerprints of
applicants, which the State Department is implementing for all consular
sections worldwide. The U.S. Embassy will be using new scanners to
do this, and it should actually be easier than doing the two index
fingerprints it now requires.
The standard non-immigrant visa fee is $100, which is now collected
off-site at branches of ArmEconomBank. For applicants who qualify for
visas on the day of the interview, the officers may offer an optional
1-year multi-entry visa that costs an additional $50.