American Embassy Nairobi and Green Card Lottery

By Guest Author | Tue, 05/01/2012 01:09AM -0400


The USA is a nation that prides herself in democracy, the rule of law and the application of the law equally to all. Should one of the laws that govern any specific arm of the government change or is amended, every effort is made to let everyone know about the change thereof. When a service is rendered it is rendered within the law and if there be any refusal, of any kind, it also is within the law. This is also true of all her embassies and consulates around the world. They all work within laws that have been put in place.

However, I'm afraid to say, that has not been so in this particular case that I am writing about. Sometimes the same laws that govern the conduct of government business can be flouted by the very people who should be upholding them as is the case in one green card case scenario at the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

A Kenyan citizen entered the green card lottery also known as the Diversity Visa Program or DV in 2010. In July of last year she was notified that she had been selected as one of those who can pursue their application further. She had to fill some forms with very specific details of herself after which she was to send in the forms together with passport size photos of herself to Kentucky Consular Center. She complied with all the requirements and sent the forms at the end of last year. After a few weeks she received a notification from Kentucky telling her that they were finished processing her case and will be sending her details to the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya where they booked her a visa interview appointment.

Before going for the interview, she was required to take a medical examination, get a good conduct certificate from the police and have all her Original documents like school certificates and birth certificate with her when she goes for the interview. She did the medical examination and meticulously got all the documents ready before the interview date. On the day of the interview she was early as it is required and went through the process. She had her documents verified, her fingerprints were taken and so she was very hopeful. To her disappointment the visa was denied and the reason given was that she did not meet the educational requirement. She had a D plain in her exam and the required minimum grade is a C plain as per what the interviewing officer told her. She was told that the requirement had changed and so they would not issue her the visa. This meant kshs 66,000(for that is what it had costed her to the interview point) went up in smoke.

When I got wind of what had happened, I wrote the Kentucky Consular Center requesting a clarification of what the laws says concerning educational requirement.
They replied as follows: The law creating the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program states: To qualify for a diversity visa you must have either a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of work experience. A high school education means successful completion of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to completion of a twelve-year course in the United States.

Having read what the law states about educational requirement, I wrote to The Us Embassy Nairobi, Kenya asking them to explain the apparent contradiction of what the law above states and the C plain minimum grade requirement at the US embassy in Kenya. I also asked them to let me know when the law changed and how it could have changed in Nairobi without the knowledge of Kentucky Consular Center. I also wanted to know whether they had notified the Kenyan public so that those who did not meet this requirement should not even bother pursuing the process.

The US embassy Nairobi replied to only two of my emails and in both of those emails they avoided these questions like a plague. They only repeated the same thing twice. She did not meet the requirement and the visa was denied. I wrote the Kentucky consular Center with the same questions and they referred me to the US embassy Nairobi but no one answered any of my questions. This seemed suspicious to me as it would to anyone. They should have been able to give me a clear explanation and answers if there was any change whatsoever. The fact that they took me round in circles while avoiding my questions did not seem right at all and it did not feel very convincing to me.

After my round of emails with the Kentucky Consular Center and the US embassy Nairobi, I have decided to send this email to media houses so that the people out there, who have applied or are in the process, may know that the minimum grade requirement at the US embassy Nairobi, is now a C plain. Don’t waste your time and resources if you have anything lower than a C plain. You might end up spending as much as this Kenyan did and it all went down the drain.

At the same time these questions still remain and I hope that someone reading this will be in a position to answer:

Can you please explain the apparent contradiction between the Laws on educational requirement as it appears on the official website and the C plain requirement at the US embassy, Nairobi?
Where does the law requiring a C plain appear in writing on the laws creating the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program?
When did the Educational requirement at The US embassy, Nairobi change and was the public notified of the change?
Does every American embassy around the world have its own laws and requirements on the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program?
Does Kentucky Consular Center books an appointment at an American embassy or consulate for people who don't meet the requirements? Would they even process the case to begin with?

I do sincerely hope that this will be an eye opener to anyone out there oblivious to what is going on at the US embassy Nairobi Kenya.

By Gabriel Nganga (hereistand77@gmail.com)

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Original Author:
Gabriel Nganga
SOURCE
http://www.mwakilishi.com/content/bl...d-lottery.html