At
least five Kenyan Members of Parliament have been barred from travelling to the United States in a move that
signals their failure to meet the multiple criteria – many of them criminal -
that the world’s most powerful nation has set for denial of travel visas.
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| The Kenyan National Assembly sitting during the reading of this year's Budget. |
The MPs alongside five parliamentary staff were denied US visas last
month when they sought to travel as part of the large Kenyan delegation that
was to attend an international conference in Tennessee.
The list of those affected by the US action includes a first term MP as
well as those serving their second and third terms in Parliament.
US authorities are known to deny foreigners visas if they have
sufficient information pointing to their involvement in drugs trade, linked to
extremist groups or are beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime.
MPs, who had their visa applications rejected, are from the National
Assembly and the Senate, while the affected parliamentary employees were from
the clerks’ office and from the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).
Speakers Justin Muturi (National Assembly) and Ken Lusaka (Senate) led
the Kenyan delegation, the largest that attended the State Capitol meeting.
It has also emerged that more MPs were initially in trouble with the
visa application but some were cleared after high-level intervention.
“Some applications were rejected. We contacted the consular services to
lodge a complaint. Some were reviewed while others are still undergoing
review,” said a source familiar with the travel plans.
Foreign missions do not ordinarily discuss individual immigration
statuses of visa applicants, but some of the affected individuals have since
spoken to their friends about their exclusion from travelling to the US.
A legislator from the Coast region told a senior parliamentary staff
that the US authorities had linked him to extremist activities of outlawed
groups terrorising locals.
The US says in its official website that it denies foreigners travel
visas if there is evidence that they have breached sections of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (INA), as well as on health, criminal and security related
grounds.
The INA establishes the types of visas available for travel to the US
and the conditions that must be met before an applicant is issued the vital
travel document.
Situations that disqualify applicants for US visa are found in the INA,
and other immigration laws.
The US embassy in Nairobi states on its website that an applicant’s
current and/or past actions, such as drug or criminal activities, may render
ineligible for a visa but one can seek a review when visa application is
denied.
National Assembly clerk Michael Sialai said he was not aware of any
legislator from the National Assembly who was denied a visa.
“The visa application is a personal matter and it is, therefore,
difficult to know to know the grounds of denial,” said Mr Sialai.
Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye gave a similar response.
Sialai said that whenever an MP or staff wishes to travel out of the
country on official duties, the institution facilitates the application for the
relevant visa.
“The office of the clerk formally introduces such applicants but the
decision to issue a visa lies solely with the country being visited,” he said,
adding that any challenges with application are usually communicated directly
to the individual.
“In the case of the recent NCSL conference I am not aware of any member
of the National Assembly that was not issued with visa to travel,” Sialai said.
The INA also contains provisions for certain ineligible applicants to
apply for waivers of their ineligibility.
In the event of a waiver application, the applicant maybe ineligible for
a visa based on one or more of the INA laws.
Besides, the category of the visa applied for often determines the
availability of a waiver of ineligibility.
“The consular officer interviewing you will tell you if you may apply
for a waiver and will provide detailed instructions for how to apply,” the
embassy says on the website.
When the consular officer determines that the applicant is ineligible to
receive a visa, the visa application is denied and the applicant is informed
both verbally and in writing of the reason for denial.
US visa regulations require applicants to be interviewed by a consular
officer at a US Embassy or Consulate. After relevant information is reviewed,
the application is approved or denied, based on standards established in law.
“While the vast majority of visa applications are approved, US law
spells out many grounds upon which a visa application may be denied,” the
embassy says.
“An application may be denied
because the consular officer does not have all of the information required to
determine if the applicant is eligible to receive a visa, because the applicant
does not qualify for the visa category for which he or she applied, or because
the information reviewed indicates the applicant falls within the scope of one
of the inadmissibility or ineligibility grounds of the law.” - Standard Media
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