Zambian President demands refunds for denied Visa applications
Brilliant and wise leader, H.E Hikainde Hikilema, for making such a decision that fees for unsecured visas should be refunded. African citizens lose a lot of money annually paying for visas, 60-80 percent of which don’t get secured. These monies in billions of currencies (worth millions of US$) are not refunded but kept by embassies in various African capitals, for use at source (Embassy). The embassies are believed to live and sustain their local budgets & expenditures on those monies from unsecured visas! Zambian President’s move needs to be applauded and emulated by the rest of Africa. Such a position needs to be adopted by a body like the African Union (AU).
Why should Africa be feeble on such matters whereby they have to protect their citizens against exploitation by foreign embassies. If I pay for the visa before I’m interviewed, this is already a signal that I’m dealing with a cheat. Why do embassies require visa applicants pay before they’re interviewed? That’s dirty business. First, interview someone, when they succeed, then charge them for the visa you’re going to issue. When one fails to satisfy the Visa Issuing/interviewing Officer (or Embassy Counsellor), then they should part ways; none owes the other anything! But embassies craftly require visa applicants to first pay before they’re interviewed. Can they justify why they do that? It is not necessary. It is a neo-colonial and master-slave setup, aimed at causing pain and subjugate those wanting to go live/or work in the ‘wealthy’ Western countries. Massive denial of visas is mainly a daily phenomenon at EU, UK, USA and Canadian embassies accredited in/to African countries. Citizens from those countries flock into our countries in hundreds of thousands annually as tourists, researchers, visitors, business people, etc undeterred. They mostly receive visas on arrival at the airports of the host ‘poor’ developing countries–so easily, so freely. No hassle, no sweat, no stampede. While they regard our citizens as unworthy of their visas, let alone going to work and live in their countries, it is degrading to first charge a human being money for no work done/no service rendered yet, and chances are (for every 100 applicants, 60-70 won’t be granted visas), while their money is poteya! This conduct by institutions labelled ’embassies’
