Julie Stufft, Deputy Undersecretary of Visa Services at the Office of Consular Affairs, assured this Thursday that The United States reached a record number of visa issuance to Colombianss, even pointing out that the figure exceeds by 20 percent the issuance of visas in relation to the numbers before the covid-19 pandemic.
(Read here: Migration agenda between the US and Colombia will be discussed this Thursday in Washington)
Stufft highlighted the cooperation that they have been providing with Colombia in this matter in the middle of a session that took place this Thursday in Washington with the Colombia-United States Consular Affairs Groupa binational instrument that aims to advance an ambitious agenda that includes the country’s inclusion in the US visa waiver program, the family reunification program recently announced by Washington, the mobility centers installed in the country and the expansion of services and assistance for compatriots.
(See also: Why does Washington, despite its distance from Gustavo Petro, still need Colombia?)
The Colombian delegation, headed by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Coy, the Colombian ambassador to the United States, Luis Gilberto Murilloand the Director of Migration Colombia, Fernando García, highlighted the progress in other matters.
Ambassador Murillo assured, in relation to the family reunification program that allows Colombians who are also citizens of the United States to request residency for their children over 21 years of age and their siblings (and families), while legal resident Colombians (green cards) to their spouses and children, with 17,000 applications approved since the measure came into effect.
Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombian ambassador in Washington.
Although Murillo pointed out that the first arrival of a Colombian relative to US soil has not taken place, it is only a matter of time before it happens. In addition, the ambassador added that there are currently another 53,000 applications in process.
For his part, Vice Chancellor Coy confirmed that the Safe Mobility Centers that the United States installed in Colombian territory to facilitate migration to this country will not respond to requests from Colombians.
In that sense, in the case of Colombia, only citizens of Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti who prove that they were legally in the country until before June 11 will have access.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
APPROPRIATE TO THE TIME
WASHIGNTON
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