Ambassadors Wood, Sediq Inaugurate Embassy Kabul Visa Section
For the first time in more than 30 years, U.S. Embassy Kabul is issuing non-immigrant visas to Afghans wishing to visit the U.S. To mark the occasion, U.S. Ambassador William Wood and Ambassador Hamid Sediq, Chief of Protocol for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held an opening ceremony in the Visa Section of the Embassy on Feb. 17, 2009.
“Today we are inaugurating the non-immigrant visa section of our Consulate, which is the section of our Embassy which responds to the requests and desires of the people of Afghanistan to visit the U.S. for their own reasons,” Ambassador Wood said. “That’s the important thing: this is a service for people.”
Ambassador Sediq noted that the new visa services represented a practical and a symbolic step. The practical step, he said, would be to save Afghans time and money. Previously, Afghans had to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan to receive non-immigrant visas. But more important, he said, was the symbolism of the new service. “The opening of the U.S. Consular Section embodies a profound symbolic message,” he said. “Which is the reaffirmation of the U.S. long-term commitment to Afghanistan.”
Applicants wishing to apply for a non-immigrant visa to the U.S. must apply online. Information about visa application procedures can be found at http://kabul.usembassy.gov/non-immigrantvisas.html. Visa appointments, which can be made after applicants complete their registration forms online, can be found at https://evisaforms.state.gov/default.asp?postcode=KBL&appcode=3.
In concluding the ceremony, Ambassador Wood welcomed those Afghans wishing to travel to the United States. “Today, in opening up the windows of our American Consulate here in Kabul for the first time in 30 years, we are expressing to the people of Afghanistan, in the most concrete way, our welcome,” he said. “Please come. Please talk to us.”