It is not accurate to say that the US has “imposed” on Venezuelans the obligation to renew the visa two years before its expiration from August 2022, as suggested by the Instagram account of the NTN24 Venezuela media outlet. The US authorities only “recommend” doing the process in advance. The message is not specifically aimed at Venezuelans
Text: Alexis Correa
“The United States imposes on Venezuelans to renew the visa two years before its expiration,” the NTN24 Venezuela media outlet said on Instagram (August 19, 2022) as part of a summary that contains other news.
As of Saturday, August 20, 2022, this NTN 24 post has not been removed or corrected. It contains information that is misleading.
Similar information appeared on the El Pitazo portal (Thursday, August 18, 2022) with the title «EE. USA: Venezuelans must renew an American visa two years before it expires.
But later, on Saturday, August 20, 2022, the title of the note was corrected with a headline that more accurately reflects the content of the note: “US Embassy recommends renewing an American visa two years before it expires”
The note from El Pitazo cites an official Instagram post (Wednesday, August 17, 2022) from the United States Embassy in Colombia.
The United States has not had an Embassy in Caracas since 2019. As one of their options abroad, Venezuelans who apply for a US visa travel to Colombia and go to the office of the US Embassy in Bogota.
*Also read: The US says that “the best thing” for Venezuelans who request a visa is to process it in Bogotá
But the Instagram post cited by El Pitazo is not only directed at Venezuelans. On the other hand, it is misleading to say that it indicates “obligation”. It only makes a recommendation. This is what the post says verbatim:
You do not need to wait for your visa to expire to renew it. We recommend doing it early and starting the process two years before it expires. As long as it is valid, you will be able to continue using your old visa while waiting for your renewal appointment.
James Story, the US ambassador to Venezuela (acting from Bogotá), published on his official Twitter account a video entitled Everything you need to know about visas, lasting about 30 minutes (Thursday, August 18, 2022). In that video there is no mention of any recent change in the rules that govern the application for visas by Venezuelans.
The official Instagram account of the “virtual” Embassy of Venezuela, which serves as a communication channel for Venezuelans who process visas, does not contain information about an “imposition” of renewal of the visa two years before its expiration or about a change recent in the rules for US visas for Venezuelans.
Errata on US note
Initially, EsPaja.com published the verification in the “Es Paja” category (Friday, August 19, 2022). However, we later corrected it and used the “Is Misleading” category.
It is true that the US Embassy in Colombia (to which Venezuelans can go) published information in August 2022 stating verbatim: “You do not need to wait for your visa to expire to renew it. We recommend doing it in advance and starting the process two years before it expires”
But it is misleading to claim that this is an ‘imposition’. At least that is not stated verbatim.
As part of the clarification, the message is not aimed only at Venezuelans.
This excerpt published by EsPaja.com on 08/19/2022 contains incorrect information. That’s why we remove it:
“It is false that this Embassy (the US Embassy in Colombia) attends to Venezuelans.”
We make a correction: the US Embassy in Colombia serves Venezuelans who cannot process a visa in their country.
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