Source: Loop Caribbean
The rate of rejection for United States non-immigrant visa applications by Antigua and Barbuda was one of the lowest in the Caribbean region for the year 2022.
A report on the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website says that Antiguan and Barbudan nationals who applied for and were denied B-1 or B-2 visas last year stand at 14.09 percent.
In comparison, the rate of visa rejections for Dominica is 25 percent, Grenada – 16.58 percent, St Kitts & Nevis – 17.14 percent, St Lucia – 16.72 percent, and St Vincent & Grenadines – 14.12 percent.
That means that Twin Island has the highest approval rate in the OECS.
Meanwhile, the report disclosed that across CARICOM, the Bahamas has an 8.3 percent refusal rate, Barbados – 6.55 percent, Belize – 26.45 percent, Guyana – 28.42 percent, Jamaica – 30.04 percent, Suriname – 11.91 percent, and Trinidad & Tobago – 13.64 percent.
US law generally requires visa applicants to be interviewed by a consular officer at a US Embassy or Consulate. In the case of citizens of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent & the Grenadines-the US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.
After relevant information is reviewed, the application is approved or denied, based on standards established in the North American country.
An application may be denied because the consular officer does not have all of the information required to determine if the applicant is eligible to receive a visa, because the applicant does not qualify for the visa category for which he or she applied, or because the information reviewed indicates the applicant falls within the scope of one of the inadmissibility or ineligibility grounds of the law.
An applicant’s current and/or past actions, such as drug or criminal activities, as examples, may make the applicant ineligible for a visa.
If denied a visa, in most cases the applicant is notified of the section of law which applies.
For persons from Antigua and Barbuda, a US visa is a major asset to have with the various states being popular vacation spots.