US Visa denied for a dozen Indian orphans - Why?

by KaushikBiswas | November 22, 2011 at 09:35 pm

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Nearly a dozen Indian nationals, belonging to a NGO-run choir group Udayan Care, have been denied US Visa; they had an invitation from a US body to perform in the World Orphans Choir in Seattle, which includes tour of 20 other cities in the next 10 months.

While orphans from other nations were granted visa, the group of Indian children was informed just 48 hours before their departure that their visas have been refused. The members of the group are highly disappointed as they had practiced over the past several months to perform at the event.

The embassy has maintained silence over the matter; but the Acting Spokesperson Lee McManis has said:

"The Department of State is committed to facilitating legitimate travel and providing prompt and courteous service to visa applicants. At the same time, we must ensure that each applicant is qualified for a visa. Each case is examined individually and is accorded every consideration under the law. However, US law prohibits us from disclosing details from individual visa cases. As US law provides for the confidentiality of visa records, the longstanding policy of the Department of State is to not comment publicly on individual visa cases"