US Ambassador explains why citizens of Uzbekistan are often denied a visa

US Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Rosenblum told why Uzbek citizens are so often denied a travel visa.

“Well, I, as ambassador, don’t get directly involved in decisions about visas. We have a separate section of our embassy that is responsible for that. They are applying the laws and the rules that we have for determining eligibility for entering into the US,” the ambassador said.

According to Daniel Rosenblum, Uzbekistan has a relatively large rate of people who come on visas and then stay longer than they are supposed to stay.

“As a result, we do have to very carefully consider every applicant and make sure that there is not a chance of staying for too long,” the ambassador added.

It should be noted that in 2019, the US Embassy refused to issue a visa to almost 70% of citizens of Uzbekistan. In the countries of Central Asia, Uzbekistan ranked first in visa denial. Kyrgyzstanis were denied in 67.75% of cases, Tajikistan - 60.97%, Turkmenistan - 56.26% and Kazakhstan - 42-58%.

In 2017, every second citizen of Uzbekistan was denied a visa. In 2018, US authorities refused 50.29% of type B visa requests from Uzbeks.