High on the agenda of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' business with the United States Embassy is the fight to lift the travel ban on ex-convicts of petty crimes committed many years ago.
In an interview with the Guardian on Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said, "It is the number one issue. If we want to identify the issue which is outstanding as a live issue with the US and ourselves, it is this question of rejection of Bahamians or the delay in the granting of visas to Bahamians."
He said that the Government has adovcated for the US to drop the ban with a belief that Bahamians have the right to travel.
He also added that the Government had complained about certain "nuisance factors" with regard to the granting of visas.
"In every meeting that I, as foreign Minister, have had with them I have raised it as an issue. They are aware of it and I think the State Department itself is trying to work on their internal systems in the United States to see if they can do something about it, but it still is unresolved. And Bahamians can rest assured that we will continue to work as best we can to help try and solve that problem," he said.
However, Mr. Mitchell did add that that he cannot say how close The Bahamas is to having the ban lifted.
"I can't say when but I think there is an appreciation of the nuisance factors which are involved and I know the US ambassador himself is concerned about it, but contrary to what most Bahamians think, ambassadors can't intervene in the granting of visas. That is a matter which is entirely up to the Consulate," he said.
The United Embassy recently streamlined the process of obtaining a US non-immigrant visa – one which should be much more convenient to Bahamians, and ease the degrading process of camping outside the embassy to be the first patrons said Mr. Mitchell.
"Looking at these administrative things, it seems to me it was just designed to make the process more rational and essentially it's only the people who have visas which expire within the 12 months that really have to end up going for interviews unless there is some other problem.
"If you look carefully at the rules and, I have not confirmed this just yet, most people should not need to go for an interview at the embassy," he said.
Adding that when this issue was raised at the meeting between he and the ambassador in Grand Bahama last October, it was revealed the rejection rate of Bahamian visas was approximately eight percent, and there is no reason to believe that has changed significantly.
"People, for example, who have done things in their background that are insignificant 20 years later are still being disallowed travel to the US. We think that that is wrong and we've made a strong case to have that changed. But someone who had a little bit of marijuana thirty years ago, you know, to us it is not fair," he said.
"When you look at their rules, these are rules which they do not set in Nassau. They have rules that are very strict, set in the US and they have become even stricter since 9/11. Bahamians still have to remember that it is the US, and it is their country and not ours," said Minister Mitchell.
By Vanessa C. Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
