US Embassy could halt issuing visas

Apr 09, 2011 News

A partial shutdown of the U.S. Government would include a shutdown of U.S. Embassy operations in Georgetown.
The shutdown is possible because of a lack of agreement in Congress on current budgetary appropriations.
The US Embassy stated that it remains hopeful that Congress will come to a resolution that would be in the best interests of both countries, by avoiding a government shutdown.
The partial shutdown was anticipated at midnight. In the event of partial shutdown, the U.S. Embassy will continue to provide emergency services, including emergency consular services to U.S. citizens, according to a statement.
Guyanese, however, will be affected given that routine visa issuances are not considered an emergency service and therefore would not be provided during the possible partial shutdown.
According to the US Embassy, “Effective Monday, April 11, Consular Operations Overseas will not continue with routine consular services…Routine visa services would be suspended.”
Routine services to U.S. citizens will also be suspended; “embassies would provide only those services related to U.S. citizen emergencies necessary for the safety of human life or otherwise to carry out excepted activities.”
The activities include, but are not limited to: Emergency passport issuance, Deaths, Arrests and detentions, Welfare and whereabouts requests related to in-process parental child abduction cases and other instances where refusal to act would result in the endangerment of a U.S. citizen; Emergency repatriation, Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance (EMDA), and medical evacuation loans; Continued payment to overseas beneficiaries of federal benefits already received by posts; Assistance in extraditions and prisoner transfers that are in their final stages; Support for in-process emergency adoption cases (such as when the child’s health or safety is at risk) that are at the point of visa issuance, when the adoptive parents are in country to pick up the child to return to the United States; Assistance in returning abducted children to the United States from abroad or from the United States to the child’s home country and all necessary consular functions at posts involved in crisis management activities, until the Department determines the crisis to have passed;
It was stated that the Embassy would process to conclusion any passport applications on hand at the time of shutdown.
“Excepted service would also include truly compelling emergency visa services (such as the issuance of a non-immigrant visa to an individual with a critically ill family member in the United States, diplomatic emergencies, adoption cases as described above, and immigrant visa cases in which the applicant will turn 21 and lose the claim to immigrant status).”