Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC December 12, 2001
Change in Immigrant Visa Processing for CambodiaThe Department of State announces that, effective immediately, we will begin transferring all immigrant visa cases for Cambodians to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. To help reduce the inconvenience caused by this move, immigrant visa applicants who already have interview appointments scheduled at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh can still attend their interview in Phnom Penh, but we will not schedule any new immigrant visa appointments in Phnom Penh. After February 1, 2002, the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh will begin to notify Cambodians of their immigrant visa appointments at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and provide full instructions.
This change will affect all immigrant visa categories, including fiancé(e) visas, diversity visas, and U.S. citizens wishing to apply for immigrant visas for their adopted Cambodian children.
This change does not affect our procedures for non-immigrant (temporary) visa applicants in Cambodia. Embassy Phnom Penh will continue to handle non-immigrant visa cases.
The transfer of the immigrant visa function to Embassy Bangkok is based on workload considerations. Embassy Phnom Penh has had protracted and chronic staffing and resource constraints that have been excessively strained by a growing number of immigrant visa cases. We believe the best long-term solution is to transfer immigrant visa processing to our embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, which has the personnel and other resources needed to process the immigrant visa cases of Cambodian citizens.
We regret any inconvenience this decision might cause to Cambodian immigrant visa applicants, but believe it is necessary to ensure the most effective service possible.
Released on December 12, 2001
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