Frequent US visa denials to Kazakh citizens are primarily due to technical errors in document preparation, rather than political or other restrictions. This was announced at a briefing by official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yerlan Zhetibayev. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the ministry, the decision to grant a visa is made by a foreign state based on a strict list of requirements. If the application and accompanying documents fully comply with the rules, applicants in most cases receive approval.
"If something is wrong with the documents, usually the citizen is asked clarifying questions, additional documents are required, and upon submission, to my knowledge, in most cases they receive approval," Zhetibayev explained.
Responding to journalists' question whether incorrectly submitted documents are indeed the main reason for the increased number of denials to Kazakh citizens, the Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed this fact.
The issue concerns inaccuracies that citizens make at the stage of preparing the visa dossier. Each country has its own regulations, and even minimal deviations lead to a negative response from the consulate.
"Technical issues. Requirements and compliance with the documents required in a particular country. In some countries the list is large, in others a bit smaller. Even with a small list of documents, it happens that documents are submitted incorrectly — when filling out the application, insurance, tickets. Different situations arise. That is, each case is considered individually," the spokesman emphasized.
During the briefing, Zhetibayev was also asked about information that Russian citizens allegedly receive US visa approval more often and in a higher percentage than applicants from Kazakhstan.
The official representative of the diplomatic department did not confirm this information, citing the lack of official confirmation from American diplomats.
"Regarding the second part of your question, about Russians, that they may receive higher percentages, there is no such information, as far as I know, and the US Embassy does not provide official statements or publication of statistics," he concluded.
In conclusion, the Foreign Ministry recommended that Kazakh citizens be more careful when filling out visa applications.