Apart from looking like a vast military bunker, the new U.S. Embassy in Kyiv still has problems to solve despite improvements.
At least that’s the assessment of some visitors and visa seekers who have already been to the brand new, $247 million complex which opened in January on 4.5 hectares of land.
Long lines outside the consular office and unfriendly staff are among the most common complaints, compounding what some Ukrainians say are inexplicable rejections of their visa applications.
However, embassy officials say that several improvements have been made. The consulate service used to have seven windows for processing applications while now the number is 25. This has reduced the average waiting time from four hours to one or even less. Some people who end up waiting for hours simply arrive too early for their appointments, said James Wolfe, the embassy’s spokesman.
But Tamara Martsenyuk said she didn’t notice any improvements during her Jan. 31 visit. Martsenyuk said she received a call from the embassy staff telling her to come to the consulate at least 15 minutes early. She ended up standing for an hour in sub-zero cold before she was allowed in.
“I cannot imagine that they do this for their citizens in the United States – keeping people outside for hours in the frost, rain or snow,” says Martsenyuk, who applied for a visa to study.
Considering that applicants pay at least $140 as an application fee – which guarantees nothing – Martsenyuk asked: “Can’t they give at least a small room? I think I got very bad service.”
Located on Tankova street close to Kyiv’s northern outskirts, the new complex brings together all operations that had earlier been split across various sites. Green Card applicants can now have their documents processed in Ukraine, rather than being forced to travel to Warsaw, as before.
Wolfe says that “the new embassy compound’s consular section features large, comfortable waiting rooms, as well as a covered garden area for optional use in warmer weather. The waiting room has more conveniences, such as two small play areas for children and a baby changing room.”
But before getting to the waiting room, applicants are subjected to a rigorous security check. This is where it takes them an hour to queue.
“It’s treating people like animals,” said Nataliya Trach, a manager who says she waited for hours during the cold wave that hit Ukraine last winter.
Martsenyuk thinks that all the problems are preventable and points to the British Embassy as a place to emulate.
She says the procedure there is well-designed, and the embassy provides a place to keep personal belongings safely, unlike the U.S. Embassy, which bans bulky items and personal computers, but provides no storage for them. Most applicants come from outside Kyiv and carry their belongings with them.
Wolfe said the embassy cannot provide lockers because the guards would have to inspect them, prolonging the waiting time. But three months on, these problems have been addressed by entrepreneurs who installed a kiosk with lockers, offering to store personal items for a Hr 25 fee. Hot tea and coffee are also sold for Hr 6.
Apart from problems with procedures, visitors complain about staff.
“I was shocked when a visa officer spoke to me in Russian with an American accent,” Martsenyuk recalls. She says the officer insisted on speaking Russian, despite the fact that she speaks English.
“I am a Ukrainian speaker in Ukraine where Ukrainian is a state language. I speak Russian very rarely,” Martsenyuk said. She concluded that the whole process speaks poorly of the officers’ training.
Trach, who visited the old embassy a year ago, had a different complaint: “By default, they treat you like a criminal.”
She was denied a visa. When she attempted to clarify the reason, she said the visa officers shut the window in front of her face. “This is rudeness. I paid $140 and wasn’t given more than a minute of time,” she says.
Visa applicants say that ill treatment, as well as lack of appeal possibilities, leaves the impression that the process of granting visas is non-transparent and that visa officers have excessive powers.
Anna Lysyuk said that she can’t understand why she was refused a visa, even though she has been to America twice. She was only asked two questions: whether she has been to the U.S. before and whether she was married. She felt she got a denial because she said no to the latter.
“I am not satisfied with the pre-judgment that if I am single, it means that I am going there to marry,” Lysyuk says. “I am a professional.”
American officials are empowered by law to keep out people who are considered at high risk of overstaying their visas or running afoul of other American laws. The burden of proof is on the applicant. However, Wolfe notes that denial "is by no means permanent" and the person can reapply again.
If the applicant is "able to prove that he or she has no intention of abandoning his or her residence," then the person will receive a visa, Wolfe said.
With respect to refusals, the U.S. Embassy says that most Ukrainians applying for non-immigrant visas receive an explanation.
“For those who do not, there are several possible grounds of refusal, the most common of which is lack of sufficient information or the applicants’ failure to overcome the law’s presumption that they intend to immigrate to the United States or work without permission,” Wolfe explained.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Abramovych can be reached at [email protected].
