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U.S. resumes immigrant visa processing in Cambodia

Tuesday February 6, 2007

(Kyodo) - The U.S. Embassy in Cambodia said Tuesday that U.S. immigrant visa processing has officially returned to Cambodia with the issuance of such a visa at the embassy in Phnom Penh, the first in more than five years.

The recipient of the visa was Sun Dalis, who qualified for immigrant status through a petition filed by her U.S. fiance.

U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph A. Mussomeli was on hand to personally offer the visa to her on Monday, the embassy said in a statement.

U.S. immigrant visa processing for Cambodian citizens was transferred to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok in December 2001 due to workload considerations.

At the time, resource constraints hampered the ability of the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh to handle a growing number of immigrant visa cases.

But with the opening of the new U.S. Embassy building in Phnom Penh in January 2006, it became feasible to return such processing to Cambodia, improving convenience and service for Cambodian applicants, it said.

"Many logistical hurdles had to be overcome in the months leading up to the resumption of immigrant visa processing in Phnom Penh, including hiring and training new local staff and transferring the paperwork for more than 6,000 cases from Bangkok to Phnom Penh," it said in the statement.

Last September, embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle said more than 2,300 immigrant visas were issued to Cambodians in Bangkok from October 2005 to July 2006