Despite the closeness in diplomatic ties, Liberia has one of the highest US visa refusal rates. The country ranks fourth after Cuba, Afghanistan, and Mauritania.

Statistics from a US State Department website reveals that 70.2 percent of Liberians who applied for US visas for tourist and business purposes in 2016 were denied. Only 3,214 visas were approved out of a total of 10,796 applications.

Paul Hinshaw, the public affairs officer at the US Embassy in Monrovia, wrote via email that there are many reasons why visa applications may get rejected. One reason could be that individuals may not qualify for the specific visa category for which they applied.

“In other cases, the applicant is inadmissible to the United States or ineligible for a visa because a previous visa was used improperly, or due to other actions the applicant may have taken in the past,” he wrote. “And, in many cases, an application requires additional processing before a visa can be issued. In all cases, whenever an applicant does not qualify for a visa, the interviewing officer provides a written explanation of the refusal to the applicant.”

In a previous communication, the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Section had told The Bush Chicken that Liberia’s non-immigrant visa refusal rate is relatively high, compared to other countries.

“In fiscal year 2015, 12 percent of Liberian visiting visa holders overstayed their visas rather than departing the United States in a timely fashion,” an embassy spokesperson said.

However, Hinshaw clarified that it is inaccurate to say that travelers must leave the United States “before their visas expire,” as it is a common misperception on the time periods individuals on visas can stay for.

“You may stay in the States after your visa expires. The visa expiration date is the last date it can be used to apply for entry to the States, not the last date someone can be in the States,” he wrote.

The 12 percent of Liberians who were overstaying their tourist or business visas were likely staying much longer than the usual six months provided for a visa carrier.

Hinshaw said it is unfortunate that some Liberian travelers stay in the US longer than permitted, as that makes it more difficult for future Liberians applying for visas.

“When we see this, new visa applicants face a higher burden of proof to demonstrate their intent to use a visa appropriately,” he wrote.

At a rate of US$160 per application, the embassy made US$1.73 million from visitors’ visa applications last year.

Asked about any guilt on the part of the embassy for profiting off mostly poor applicants, Hinshaw said U.S. law requires the Department of State to attempt to recover, as far as possible, the cost of processing non-immigrant visas through the collection of the application fees.

“We note that the fee for a multiple-entry, one year B1/B2 (“visitor”) visa to the United States is currently US$160, while the fee for a multiple-entry, one year visitor’s visa to Liberia is US$200,” he continued.

Although the embassy’s defense that American citizens coming to Liberia are charged a higher amount than what it is charging in Liberia, it did not account for the significant differences in earnings. The average Liberian earns approximately 300 times less salary than the average American.
http://www.bushchicken.com/us-embassy-rejected-70-of-liberian-visa-applicants-in-2016-made-us1-73-million/

Lol

Surprised that Liberia and Ghana have U.S. B-2 visa rejection rates of 70% and 65% respectively. It is indeed too high considering the fact that nationals of both countries spend millions of dollars in visa application fees, and a large number of them get turned down.

BTW, the U.S. federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Thus "Fiscal year 2016" runs from October 1, 2015 - September 30, 2016.

Ope o, I still get hope for my visa application. Naija no dey among.

Even ghana

As of FY 2015, the B-visa rejection rate for Nigerian citizens was 33%.

Interesting information. Oya let's try the B1/B2 visa as rejection is low from our country.

Interesting, I am surprised that Liberia is on that list. Could it be due to the Ebola outbreak?

Thank God . Nigeria's name not among. At least not in bad news this time

Liberians and USA are like 5&6

loneatar:
Liberians and USA are like 5&6

Yet, they have the highest refusal rate

loneatar:
Liberians and USA are like 5&6

Yeah, according to history, some who left the US
after the end of slavery landed in Liberia.

They see US as second home.

There are two categories of people in Liberia (the natives and the returned ones) *********

The natives are those who weren't sold to slavery
The returned are those freed from slavery.

********Can't remember the exact words that was used to qualify them.

LIES - Where is Nigeria?

lonlytroy:
LIES - Where is Nigeria?

Visa refusal rate for Nigerians is 'only' 35%