US Immigration Lawyer Tells Ghanaians To Apply for Immigrant Visas Despite Pause on Issuance
- A US-based immigration lawyer has sent a message to Ghanaians regarding the immigrant visa pause for 75 countries, including Ghana
- Rhoda Frimpong admonished Ghanaians to start applying now, since the process is still ongoing, although visa issuance has been paused
- She stated that people waiting for the pause on immigrant visas to be lifted may face long interview waiting times
Ghana’s top stories, now easier to find. Discover our new search feature!
A US-based immigration lawyer, Rhoda Frimpong, has enlightened Ghanaians on the indefinite pause on immigrant visa processing for citizens of 75 countries.
In a video sighted by YEN.com.gh, she explained that although there is an indefinite pause on immigrant visa issuance affecting 75 countries, including Ghana, interviews are still being scheduled.
Source: Getty Images
Lawyer Rhoda said the long interview waiting time is also one reason why Ghanaians desirous of relocating to the US under an immigrant visa should apply now.
“U.S. embassies across the world are not issuing immigrant visas to individuals. Interviews are still being scheduled. Individuals may still go to their interview, but because of this suspension, an immigrant visa cannot be issued. This, however, does not necessarily mean that you should not apply. I say this especially if you're from a country like Ghana, where there's an extremely long waiting line to get an interview. Currently, Ghana has about a two-year wait, as you can see on your screen.
The U.S. Embassy in Accra is scheduling interviews for individuals whose cases were documentarily qualified as of February 2024. So that means if your case was documentarily qualified this year, there's about a two-year wait before you're called in for an interview. So if you're waiting for this visa suspension to pass, you'll be putting yourself two years behind, especially because your process starts here in the United States."
"That petition can take upwards of 10 months, sometimes a year, before your case is sent to the National Visa Centre, before it's considered documentarily complete or qualified, before you wait two years for an interview."
Lawyer Frimpong also said persons planning to relocate to the US on an immigrant visa should not wait for the US to lift the pause on visa issuance.
So don't let this 75-country visa issuance suspension be the reason why you delay your case that much more. If you plan on filing for someone and bringing them to the United States, especially if they're coming from a place where the waiting line for an interview is as long as two years, it's probably in your best interest to start the process now.”
Source: Getty Images
Watch the TikTok video here:
Trump suspends American visa lottery
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that US President Donald Trump suspended the US Green Card lottery scheme after a shooting at Brown University.
The suspect was a Portuguese man who was found dead on December 18.
It happened accused allegedly entered the country through the Diversity Visa (DV) program in 2017 and was granted an American green card.
Source: YEN.com.gh
