US Asst Secy Rena Bitter in Dhaka
Diplomatic Correspondent :
The US Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter is now travelling in Dhaka for a two-day official visit to observe consular operations and protection of the US citizens here.
Ahead of the parliamentary election, her visit is a milestone as the US government imposed visa restrictions and the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Hass has expressed her concerns over the safety and
security of the Embassy.
According to the State Department, Rena Bitter will meet with embassy and consulate staff and observe consular operations.
Apart from it, she will also have meetings with host government officials to discuss consular issues, the State Department said.
Most importantly her trip underscores the US government’s deep and sustained commitment to the protection of US citizens overseas and the facilitation of legitimate travel and immigration to the United States.
After arriving in Dhaka on Sunday, she met with the high officials of the Foreign Ministry to discuss on various dimension of visa issue.
On her first day, Reta met with Acting Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (Retd) Md Khurshed Alam and held discussions on visa related issues.
Just after the meeting, Khurshed Alam told the journalists that they did not have any discussion on the visa restriction.
He, however, said that he has conveyed the concerns of the general people and students regarding US visa policy.
The Foreign Secretary stated that discussions were held on mutual interests and issues related to consular services between the two countries. There were no discussions on any other topics.
When asked whether there had been any discussions about visa policies, he said, “There have been no discussions on visa policies, they did not bring it up.
However, we had some issues. Our students are not getting visas as they should.
Those of us who work in international organisations face problems with visas. We have raised these issues. They said they would consider them.”
The Foreign Secretary also mentioned that it used to take a long time to issue visas in the United States because they had a shortage of staff.
However, they have since increased their workforce and improved visa issuance times.
These issues related to visas have been discussed.
On the other hand, the US Embassy Dhaka in a tweet said, “”US study and travel are booming! Increased interest in student visas, consular assistance to American citizens, and U.S. efforts to reduce visa interview wait times were some of the topics discussed by Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter and Acting Foreign Secretary, Rear Admiral (Retd) Md Khurshed Alam.”
During the meeting in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peter Hass was also present.
According to the office of Bureau of Consular Affairs, its highest priority is to protect the lives and serve the interests of US citizens abroad.
“We keep our country safe and help foreign nationals connect with the United States by issuing visas to qualified visitors, workers, and immigrants,” it read.
