But the grant ceremony wasn't the only event at the US Embassy today. They held their first ever Consular Open House. Now many Belizeans are all too familiar with the formalities and strict rules at the US Embassy. Not to mention the intimidating security glass separating the visa applicant and the officer and the anxiety that takes you over when sitting in the waiting area - waiting patiently for your visa to be approved. Well that atmosphere was completely different today - the Consular office was transformed into a cocktail room with the consular/visa officers mingling with guests. We were not allowed to get footage of the open house but we got to speak to the consular chief Yomaris Macdonald. She told us more about the open house and gave us more insight into the visa application process.
Yomaris Macdonald, Consular Chief
"This is our first consular open house. It a bit of outreach to some of our customers to get them to see our space, to meet some of the vice consuls and some of the officers in person and not with a piece of glass in between them. We reached out to government offices, non-profits, travel agencies, internet cafes and all the individuals who help filled out applications. Those people who emplify our message and get out some of the most common questions that we get at the embassy and also for them to give us some feedback and ask us some questions about some of the most common mistakes or some of the most common frustration that they see with our process."
Reporter
"What are some of those common mistakes or frustrations?"
Yomaris Macdonald, Consular Chief
"One of the most common ones and I think one of the more easiest ones to fix are incorrect photos being uploaded in the application. So we see a lot of selfies and photos that don't meet our requirements, because when you fill out the application you can upload a photo yourself and they end up uploading pictures that are not appropriate for our process. That one message that we are trying to emplify. Another message that we want everyone to take with them is to get them to know about our interview waiver program. So the interview waiver program waives the interviews for minors, children 13 years and younger and elderly citizen 79 years and above and then finally and hopefully one that you will be seeing a lot more in the next few weeks is we are going to try to announce the new Diversity Visa Lottery Program. This is essentially a lottery to immigrate to the US. That program opens up on October 3rd. We will have information on our website."
Reporter
"A lot of Belizeans query about the visa refusals. Can you tell us what are some of the main reasons that they could expect to be refused?"
Yomaris Macdonald, Consular Chief
"That's a very good question and one that we get very often. One of the most common reasons why someone might be refused is because they haven't articulated in their application or to the officer their ties to Belize. So there are many thing we look for in an application. We have many different visa categories, many different purposes of travel; students, teachers, people who are going for business, grandparents who is going to visit their grandchildren. So in addition to purpose of travel and funds and who is going to pay for your trip, we want to know are you going to come back and what that means is that do you have sufficient ties to Belize and could mean many different things for a 18 year old studying in university and a 45 year old stay at home mom."
For anyone who has questions or needs help with visa applications you can call their call center 0 800 017 2599 or skype them at usvisabelize. You can also send an email consulbelize@state.gov. And of course, more information can be found on the US Embassy website.
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