General News of Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Source: starrfmonline.com

We aren’t ripping Ghanaians off – US Embassy

Head of the Consular section - Franz Seitz Head of the Consular section - Franz Seitz

The Unites States Embassy in Accra-Ghana, has dismissed reports that it is ripping Ghanaians off by accepting visa fees in spite of the visa issuance imbroglio that has hit US embassies across the world.

The embassy has not been able to issue visas for more than a week due to systems failure.

A statement announcing the glitch said the technical problem has affected all applications made after May 26, 2015.

There are reports that the consular section of the embassy has over the past few days, refused visas to Ghanaian applicants on very tangential grounds in order to cover up the technical lapses in their system.

But speaking to StarrFMonline.com Tuesday, Head of the Consular section at the embassy Franz Seitz said such claims have no basis.

“There is no connection between our Visa decisions and the operations of our technology; that has to do with obtaining biometric clearances. There is no connection at all.

“So if anybody was refused a visa, that was because of the case and has nothing to do with our technical issues,” he explained.