The visa delivery service of the UK, Canada and other embassies in Guyana

Oct 12, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – Someone published a letter in the Kaieteur News on me titled, “Freddie Kissoon speaks for himself alone” (September 26). It was penned by someone who simply signed, “H. Singh.” Singh is quite a common name in Guyana so we don’t know who H. Singh is; if he/she is real.

Decades ago I once wrote that people use fictitious names because they would get a stroke if their family members and relatives know the lack of commonsense they inject into the criticism they publish against public personalities.

The criticism of me by H. Singh is about the visa service offered by the High Commissions of two countries Guyana are extremely close to and have been so historically – the UK and Canada.

Whoever H. Singh is, his family, relatives and friends may laugh at him/her if his/her identity is revealed because actual commonsense is lacking in his castigation of me. None, not one, of the unacceptable dimensions of visa delivery system of the diplomatic missions by the UK and Canada is discussed by H. Singh.

Instead you have the stupid outlook by H. Singh that the UK and Canada have helped Guyana during the March 2022 election imbroglio so why am I criticizing them? And if the UK and Canada treat Guyanese like this, why aren’t Guyanese rushing off to China and Russia?

Here now is an exposure of the ignorance of H. Singh who has given me the opportunity to once more inform Guyanese people of things that happen in their homeland.

1 – I wrote that UK High Commission does not offer visa service. This is an amazing mystery. You apply to a private company, (VFS- Global) that send your passport application overseas.

2 – If the UK mission does not offer consular service, honestly without any bad intention I ask – what do the staff at that mission do each day?

3 – It was not me but a prominent name in the business world in Guyana, Mr. Timothy Tucker, who said that he cannot hear anything from VFS-Global about his application and the UK High Commissioner told him she cannot intervene with a private company.

So who offers visa service to Guyanese – the UK Government’s mission to Guyana   or a private company that Guyanese do not interact with? If H. Singh finds that acceptable then it makes sense why he/she is anonymous.

4 – It is not Frederick Kissoon that fictionalized the location of VFS-Global. It is situated at a place that is not safe. One should not carry around their passports walking three blocks to get to the office on Cummings Street since parking is impossible there.

5 – Canada does not offer visa service. Your stamp is approved from Trinidad. Is that acceptable to any person in Guyana? What does the Canadian staff do each day in Guyana?

6 – It is better for the foreign embassy to offer visa service because the diplomats know the people in society with important roles to play and thus cruel denial is prevented. For example, those diplomats know who the important governmental actors, businessmen, professionals, academics, security officers, etc., are.

When the children and spouses of these citizens apply for a stamp, it is automatically granted because they are known as safe applicants. The visa for these people can be denied by the foreign country that grants it because the consular officers do not know them and they are just names on paper for them. This is wrong and cruel and such narrow approach to the granting of a UK and Canadian visa to Guyanese should be stopped immediately.

7 – What happens to the member of a competing sports team from Guyana in India who is an urgent replacement for an injured member? That person will need an in-transit UK visa but would be unable to get one because the UK mission here does not offer visa service. How could that be acceptable to any Guyanese?

8 – The US, China, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, India, Russia and other embassies in Georgetown offer walk-in visas. The Brazilian, Indian and American consular officers know who Glenn Lall, Guyanese Critic, Jerry Gouveia, and hundreds of other prominent citizens are. They can get an emergency visa from those countries.

The American Embassy offers emergency visas. Your passport does not have to be sent overseas.  Why the UK and Canada have gone that route is a mystery. Their visa delivery system in Guyana is completely unacceptable. And why this is unacceptable is because these two countries have close historic ties with Guyana. I ask once more; why the UK mission does not do what embassies do in Guyana?

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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