Facilitating issuance of U.S. visas for Kyrgyz nationals discussed

Bishkek, Sept. 5, 2022 / Kabar /. Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States Bakyt Amanbaev met on September 1, 2022 with the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Brian Stimmler focusing on issues of concern between the two countries and ways to resolve them. During the meeting, Ambassador Amanbaev gave a detailed summary of the essence and results of the documents discussed and adopted at the meeting of the heads of Central Asian states on July 21 in Cholpon-Ata under the leadership of the head of state Sadyr Zhaparov. The head of the Kyrgyz diplomatic mission in the United States Bakyt Amanbaev noted that Kyrgyz citizens are standing in long lines at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek to apply for visas to the USA, and that the number of people waiting in line to get visas is increasing, and therefore asked for assistance in facilitating the visa application process for citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic. The ambassador also asked for simplified visa procedures for Kyrgyz students attending U.S. educational institutions and stressed the need to establish a separate visa waiting list for them and to extend their tourist visas by ten years instead of five. Brian Stimmler said he would look into the reasons behind the long line at the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan and promised to give an additional answer. During the meeting Bakyt Amanbaev emphasized that finance of some Kyrgyz companies is with American banks due to the international sanctions imposed by the United States against Russia, and presented his proposals for its solution. As a result, the parties agreed to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings with the participation of responsible U.S. government agencies in order to accelerate the resolution of the said issue in the near future.