U.S. visa lottery, scholarship winners, stranded over delayed visa appointments
- Winners of the 2021/2022 American Visa lottery are stranded over their appointment date
- Ghanaian students with scholarship to the U.S. are also yet to receive their visas
- The American State Department says this is linked to the effect of the Coronavirus
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The Coronavirus Pandemic has grounded millions of International Students from exploring their dreams to study in the United States.
In Ghana, tens of students who got admission to their various colleges of study in the U.S. have had to either defer their course or risk losing their scholarships and study grants.
Source: UGC
With Ghanaian students beginning their US programs in 2021, they must obtain a Student Visa from the US embassy within 120 days before their program starts. But as it stands, consulates are operating with limited staff.
“US consulates are horribly backlogged. Majority of consulates are processing visas but not fast enough to get students here in time,” Jula Gelatt, Senior Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute revealed.
The same challenge lies with the 2021/2022 visa lottery winners who are also yet to be interviewed by the US Embassy or Consulate. Many on social media have inquired of when their appointment will be scheduled by are yet to get any response.
Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson has stated that efforts are being made to address the situation.
“We are making significant efforts with constrained resources to return to pre-pandemic workload levels,” he explained.
In other stories.
Information has emerged of a 28-year-old Ghanaian staying in Tamale listed among the 30 most wanted online fraudsters in the United States.
Maxwell Atugba Abayeta, according to the United Stated Department of Justice, was indicted by the District Court of Tennessee with “conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft”.
The Victim Witness Protection Program of the United States District Court of Tennessee has thus blacklisted Maxwell Atuguba Abayeta as month the over 30 persons complicit in online dating scams – with victims mostly in the United States.
“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee is prosecuting numerous individuals in connection with an international fraud perpetrated, in part, through online dating websites. If you have sent or been asked to send money to or on behalf of the following, you may be a victim in this case,” excerpts of the statement read.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
