Visa: Albania, a record in refusals

“The United States embassy has said a real truth. This government has not asked any favour. We will ask help from the United States of America for us to fulfill the conditions, because we have a special relation with the United States”, Berisha declared.

Regardless Berisha’s promise, the reality of these procedures seems more strict.

On the visa section at the United States State Department website there is a detailed explanation of the five conditions to become part of the Waiver program, which so far has been granted to only 37 countries.

The first and most difficult condition is the high level of refusal at the Tirana Embassy, which in 2012 was 40.5% of the applicants. This percentage should be 3% to participate in the Visa Waiver Program.

The United States department statistics for the last six years show that the level of visa refusal is constant over 35%. The biggest number of refusals was in 2006, with 54.5%, followed by 2007 with 49.5%. There have been lower levels from 2008 to 2010, but it increased again in 2011 and 2012.

Albania   40.5% 2012
Albania   42.3% 2011
Albania   37.7% 2010
Albania   39.6% 2009
Albania   38.7% 2008
Albania   49.5% 2007
Albania   54.5% 2006

The four other required conditions are:

1-Data exchange between the United States and Albanian security agencies.

2-Having “E-Passports” standard passports.

3-Exchanging information for passports that are produced and that are released, including the ones that are lost or stolen.

4-Having high-standard agencies for the war against terrorism, for the law enforcement and border patrol.

However, the National Security Department underlined that even when the states fulfill the required conditions, this is not an absolute guarantee for the visa lifting.

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