‘60% increase in visa applications from Albanians’, says US Embassy consular officer

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The number of Albanian citizens looking to apply for US travel visas has increased significantly in the last few years.

In an interview for Euronews Albania Krystal Overmyer, a consular officer at the US Embassy in Tirana, said that 11,000 US visas were granted to Albanian citizens, in contrast to 5,000 in 2014.

“In 2020 and 2021 our services were very impacted and very restricted so we issued far fewer visas. But as the end of last year and continuing to the present we are working very hard to resume services and continue to increase appointment capacity for non-immigrant visas, that is for tourist visas”, said Overmyer.

Overmyer explained that the extension of the US visa to 10 years does not imply that Albanian citizens can stay for that long in the country, but that they can use it for a longer period of time.

She noted that it is the Department of Homeland Security that determines the time that travelers are permitted to stay in the US.

“When the traveler actually enters the United States, typically an officer stamps the passport with the information stating how long the stay is permitted, and the maximum length of stay remains at 6 months, although that length may be shorter”, explained the consular officer.

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