Cameroon tops U.S Visa denial list in Africa

The story of Christina Rose, a resident of Bafia in the Centre Region of Cameroon is pathetic, yet not an isolated one. It’s been over seven years since her husband gained asylum in the U.S.

In the U.S, filing for asylum requires every applicant to list the names of immediate family members including spouses. This is necessary for any future reunion.

Right after gaining asylum, Christina’s husband petitioned for his family – wife and four children to join him in the U.S. Christina and the children followed all required procedure at the U.S embassy level in Cameroon, including medical examinations and DNA tests on the kids to determine that they actually belong to them.

The kids – all got their visas, the mother was denied. Christina was asked to present a phone record of communication between herself and the husband and she did. After, they asked that she provide the embassy with money transfer records from the husband to her, she did. But this didn’t change their decision. Upon denying her the visa, the Embassy said Christina’s marriage certificate wasn’t authentic– that it was fabricated. She presented the Embassy with photos from their traditional and Church wedding ceremonies which should easily determine for how long they have been married, judging from the age and quality of the pictures, but the Embassy still didn’t grant her a visa.

It’s been almost four years since the children left their mother to join the father in the U.S. That too, however, created a second problem. Three of the children are in their early teens and one by U.S standards is a minor. The minor has since become so depressed that it attracted the attention of her Maryland school authorities. It was determined that the separation from her mother is the reason for her depression. As a result, the father had to give-up his full time job to provide additional support to the child. And not only is he not able to take care of the children alone, he now cannot provide for them on the paltry income he makes from a part time job.
Thiers isn’t an isolated case. There are many other Cameroonian families out here with similar predicaments – their families have been separated for the mere fact that genuine documentation for visa processing has not been furnished the Embassy in Yaounde.

The Cameroon Journal, recalls that in May last year, Roberto Quiroz II, Embassy Public Affairs Officer and Nick Castellano, Assistant Regional Security Officer, speaking over CRTV’ s Morning Safari radio program, lamented how the high rate of fabrication of fraudulent documents for visa applications in Cameroon, has led to Cameroon being top on U.S Visa denial list in all of Africa.