Issuance of United States visas to German and other refugees will be suspended on Monday by the American consulates in Paris and Berlin until July because the quota for this year, which ends June 30, is exhausted, it was disclosed today by the consulate here. Registration of applicants for visas will continue without interruption, however, it was stated.
Consular authorities estimate that 30,000 applicants are now registered with the Paris consulate and new applicants of German origin will have to wait approximately six years for their turn to get visas. Applicants of Polish origin, even those who spent most of their lives in Germany, will have to wait at least 50 years, since the American consulate in Paris cannot issue more than 15 visas monthly to those coming under the Polish quota.
While suspending issuance of visas for the next two months to applicants registered in Paris, the consulate will issue visas, without interruption, in cases transferred to Paris by American consulates elsewhere.
The strict requirements of the consulate regarding formalities makes it impossible for many applicants to obtain American visas. Many find it impossible to submit the required certified copies of birth certificates since they cannot correspond with the German authorities. Similar strictness exercised by the consulate regarding affidavits of support sent by Americans makes many of these documents useless.
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