THOSE WISHING TO LEAVE ARMENIA ADDED 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS TO US TREASURY

02.02.2001, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. “In the period from January 1 to December 31, 2000 the number of Armenian citizens, wishing to leave for US, made up 26046, of which 13948 were refused the entry visa”, said today US consul to Armenia Lily Kozher at a press conference in Yerevan.
According to Mrs. Kozher, the reason of the majority of refusals is that each applicant is considered by the consulate as a potential emigrant, basing on 214th Law of the US Constitution.
Recently the US President signed the law, in accord with which foreigners can prolong the expired residence term in the US by paying 1000 US dollars. But the application of this law doesn’t extend to all the visa types, Mrs. Kozher said.
US consul also informed that 10850 people have already applied to the consulate in 2001, but only 34 % of them got the entry visa.
“Payments of the Armenian citizens, who applied to the US consulate last year, made up approximately 1.3 million US dollars “, Lily Kozher said. The total sum is forwarded to US Treasury and is used for border protection and for providing the frontier guards equipment. -0–