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Author Topic: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings  (Read 891 times)

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Offline JimD

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US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« on: September 26, 2011, 05:08:05 PM »
FYI: The US Embassy is offering a "Town Hall" meeting tomorrow in Cali and on the 29th in Medellin
Cali, Tuesday September 27

5:00 p.m – 6:00 p.m               Town Hall Meeting
Location: Centro Cultural Colombo Americano
                                                Calle 13N, No. 8N-45 Barrio Granada
           (57) 2-687-5800
                                                www.colomboamericano.edu.co

Medellin, Thursday September 29

5:00 p.m – 6:00 p.m               Town Hall Meeting
Location: Centro Colombo Americano Medellin
                                                Carrera 45, No. 53-24 Sede Centro
                                                (57) 4-513-4444
                                                www.colomboworld.com
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Offline Traveler

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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2011, 08:49:26 PM »
Why in the world Dept of State would not open consulates in those cities?  There are a lot American citizens (both of Colombian and non-Colombian descent) who travel there and need consular assistance.
 
The only reason I can imagine why the US govt would deny the service to its own citizens it to make it harder and more costly for Colombian nationals to apply for visas.  That is sad and wrong, on all levels.

Offline JimD

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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2011, 09:31:37 PM »
There actually was a consulate in Cali back in the seventies and maybe eighties. I saw it in an old movie.
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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2011, 09:31:37 PM »

Offline Traveler

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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2011, 10:31:03 PM »
Well, not anymore.  If you think about it, there are more than enough US citizens and nationals who travel or reside in Medellin and Cali to warrant a consulate.
 
For comparison, aside from Washington, there are Colombian consulates in 10 other cities in the US plus one more in San Juan.

Offline AndyLee

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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2011, 06:14:54 AM »
Why in the world Dept of State would not open consulates in those cities?  There are a lot American citizens (both of Colombian and non-Colombian descent) who travel there and need consular assistance.
 
The only reason I can imagine why the US govt would deny the service to its own citizens it to make it harder and more costly for Colombian nationals to apply for visas.  That is sad and wrong, on all levels.
Last year they opened a Consulate in Barranquilla but it offers only limited services and no visas. We have also been hearing rumors that they are cutting way back on services at the embassy in Bogota and shifting a lot of their operations to Costa Rica. When I needed help with a major issue last year the embassy in Bogota referred me to Costa Rica to solve my problem. This probably has more to do with State Department budget cuts than with political interests.


There is absolutely no interest in increasing the number of visas for yet more Colombians. They turn down a major percentage of the applicants already.


I wish I was able to attend one of these town hall meetings. I wonder what they have in mind? Maybe they plan to open Consulates in Cali and Medellin and shift more of the services away from Bogota. It would indeed be helpful to a lot of people not to have to travel to Bogota for every little thing to do with the embassy.
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Offline JimD

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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2011, 06:25:22 AM »
Here´s what they said in their email:
.

"All American Citizens are invited to a Town Hall meeting with the Consul General of the American Embassy in Bogota. The Town Halls will be held in Cali on September 27th and Medellin on September 29th.  The Consul General will outline the services provided by the American Citizen Services office at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.  There will be also an opportunity to answer general questions."
.
So I think it is just supposed to be informative.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2011, 06:27:47 AM by JimD »
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Offline AndyLee

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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2011, 06:59:37 AM »
This also begs the question how many US Citizens live in and visit Colombia compared to how many Colombians live in the US?
According to Wiki there are 40,000-50,000 US Citizens living in Colombia. The majority of them are Colombian Nationals who have dual citizenship. Only a few hundred Americans have retired to Colombia and only a few thousands Americans are working in Colombia.
In 2003 there were estimated 2,023,000 Colombians living in the US (http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=344).
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Offline Alabamaboy!

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Re: US Embassy "Town Hall" Meetings
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2011, 07:59:21 AM »
The US embassy is now accepting computer generated forms for the non-immigrant visas I believe. All the little kiosks near the Embassy where you can take the passport photos also have the service where they will complete the forms for you online. I think it is I-156 or I-160 or something like that. I am not sure but they are transitioning things to computer based for a lot of things. I just saw on the news here today they were talking about the same thing. They want to streamline the process as much as possible.

 

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