In our quest to inform, enlighten and entertain society with news and information that matters most, we bring to the limelight, Mr Michael Fitzpatrick, consular of the United States Embassy in Banjul, so that readers can know the people in our diplomatic strand.

Having served in the diplomatic mission for the past six years, Michael has proven to be a man of humility and integrity with professionalism his guiding principle. He has been the consular for the US Banjul Embassy since last year and his principal assignment revolves around the issuing of US visa to those who wish to travel to the 'land of hope and dreams'. Below we reproduce the full text of the face-to-face interview we had with this outstanding diplomat. Please read on.

Who is Michael Fitzpatrick?

Michael Fitzpatrick. I am the consul at the United States Embassy here in Banjul. What I do is that I handle visas. We only process visas for non-immigrants, that is students, tourists and business people. We don't issue visas for people who are immigrating to the United States. Those are handled in Dakar, Senegal. I also handle passports, birth certificates for American citizens and if an American citizen gets a problem, I am the first point of contact here in the embassy.

How long have you served in the diplomatic mission?

I have been serving in the Foreign Service which is what we call the American Diplomatic Service for six years now. I was previously in El Salvador, in Central America and also in Frankfurt, Germany.

I have been here in The Gambia for about 13 months now and have only about 11 months to go, which will end my two years duties here to The Gambia. This is my first time leaving in Africa. I once travelled to Cameroon for three weeks and have also been to many countries in Northern Africa but this is my first in-depth experience in Africa. I have to say that I am really enjoying it. I don't know is it because of Africa in general or is The Gambia, because the people here are very friendly and everything here is nice, quiet and there are beautiful beaches. The Gambia is a great place to live in and I like this country.

Recently, the US embassy introduced an online visa application process, what is the motive behind this development?

Recently, we introduced an online application form called the DM160. There are various motives behind that; one reason being it is environmentally much friendly, and save lots of papers. Again, the process is quicker. The forms are electronically sent and available right before us here in the embassy. We don't have to have the applicants physically bring it over to us.

It is also a secure process and we make sure that the online security is top much highest as it can be. So nobody should feel any vulnerability about the process been unsecured since it's online. It also makes the process faster both for the applicants and for us. We had the forms some couple of months and there were some pains as we move into the new forms but we are getting more used to it and the applicants also are getting more used to it and in the next years or so the applicant will see the benefits.

How many visa applicants do you receive a day- approximately?

Well, that depends on the day and the time of the year. What I can tell you is that US Visa applications in The Gambia are on the rise. We have seen approximately 20 per cent increase in the number of visa applicants for the first nine months of the year 2010 over 2009. That is quite an increase. So we often see over 50 applicants a day especially in the busy season we just coming out off.

Schools have started in the USA and things will probably go down slowly for a little while but will pick up again before Christmas as traditional. But I will imagine six to seven thousand people this year in The Gambia that we are to interview before the end of the year. This is my estimate. Again, out of that number, approximately 40 - 45 per cent has or will be issued US visa.

On what basis specifically is one denied a US visa?

Well, visa laws basically state that a visa applicant have to prove during the interview that, they do not intend to immigrate to the United States. They have to show that they have strong enough socio-economic, financial and other types of ties in their own country that will compel them to leave the USA after a short visit. This is one factor.

The other factor is that the visa consular should be convinced that the visa issued will be properly used. Eg, someone going with a student visa will not go to work, and one going with a tourist visa will not go to make money. So those are the two factors that determine whether a visa is issued or denied.

Now unfortunately, often it is difficult to show strong and enough ties to overcome the presumption that one is an immigrant. That is an unfortunate situation but that is the way it is especially for younger people who are trying to establish themselves and may not have married or have children here, either students or have just started job here and are not making so much money. It can be very difficult in that situation to get visa. That is why sometimes I am asked why other applicants are more likely to get visas. Well they are more established and less unlikely to work in the United States or stay too long.

What type of visa do you issue?

We issue primarily two types of visa here in the Embassy of the United States of America in Banjul. What we call a B1 and B2 which is for tourism and businesses. By business I don't mean working and earning money in the United States. What I mean is going to meet your business contact, to set up business either exporting from The Gambia to the US or set up business importing from the United State to The Gambia.

Now it is perfect to go there and buy cosmetics, cloths and tiers and ship them on containers back to The Gambia. But what one can't do is simply to load your suitcase with Gambian arts and crafts and other African cloths and go to sell them on the street corners of the United States. That is not allowed. So it is business and tourism that is the one type and that is probably 60 to 70 per cent of our application.

The other main type is the student visa- that is people who want to go and study in the United States and obviously the requirement for student visa is a little bit different. You have to demonstrate to us that you will be able to pay for the studying. You have to show that you are qualified academically and the general rule that we use is on the WAEC exams- five credits. That is what the University of The Gambia uses. So that is generally what we like to see. Therefore, the general rule is that if the person is qualified to go to university here in The Gambia, then the individual might be qualified to go to United States to study.

Why are applicants with credible and authorised documents being denied US visas?

Applicants often think that if they have credible and authorised documents it will lead them to automatically get a US Visa. Well, documents are very important but really the interview is the key factor. This goes back again about the things I said earlier about ties. Documents can be authentic but if they don't demonstrate the strength of your ties significantly enough, even with the most authentic documents, you will not be able to receive a visa.

What is the application fee for US visa and has there been any increment in recent times?

Well the visa fee is currently US$140 dollars. It rose up from US$131 earlier this year. So it is a small increment of only US$9. This fee what it basically pays for is the entire process. We don't make money out of this fee. It is paying for the guards out, my salary and local employees that work here; it is paying the computer system that we use. So the payment of the fee does not have any tie to the issuance of a visa. Unfortunately, if you don't even get the visa, you are not eligible to get the fee back.

As an experienced consular, how do you feel rejecting lots of applicants taking into consideration the expenses incurred in the application by applicants?

I do feel bad having to refuse a lot of people visa here in The Gambia. It is one of the most difficult parts of my job. The expense does not much bother me because we never force anybody to come and apply. It is voluntary and people know that getting a visa is difficult. So I don't feel that they should be getting the money back or I am sorry that they spend this money. If US$140 is really that much important to the person, then probably they should not be applying for a visa in the first place but should go for another thing.

What is your assessment on the visa application rate in The Gambia?

Well the number of visa application is increasing and I think a lot of students receive it. A lot of people want to study in the United States. We haven't put our fingers on to know what exactly is the reasons are but we are definitely seeing an increase in our visa applicants. One thing that we have seen on the increase unfortunately is fake documents. We have seen a large increase in the number of bank statements which are forged, people submitting fake job letters and people with sponsors and claim that they are in Europe, fake passports, and photocopy of fake European passports. This has led to a number of problems.

At this point, we are checking every bank statement that is submitted to us. We have the signatures of all the people at the various banks who signed these statements. We know what the statements look like. So if you pay somebody for a fake bank statement, you're are going to lose that money, you're going to lose the US$140 you paid to apply. You're going to make yourself either permanently ineligible ever to get a visa or very difficult to get another visa.

Also submitting counterfeit documents is illegal here in The Gambia and you may find yourself in trouble with the law. So there are many reasons not to try to bring fake documents here. This can even lead to a more general problem. All the people that come here and don't tell the truth during the interview, makes it more difficult for the honest Gambian to get a visa. It makes us suspicious and the person that is hurt most is the person that is legitimate to travel. So by doing these kind of things, you are putting yourself in a very bad situation and also putting the same problem to the honest Gambians that want to travel.

I do understand people that would like to live in the United States help their families but really the best thing to do is the Green Card Visa Lottery. The Green Card Lottery for the year 2012 will be starting by October this year and for two months; one should be able to submit your application on time.

There is no charge. There are people out there who would like you to pay them and if you can pay them, it is fine. But there is no need to pay anybody. You can submit it online for free. Come to the embassy website for a link that will take you to that website. There are a couple of qualifications in the process- you need to have a high school education or job that requires a two years of training but beside that, anybody can apply. We give out 55,000 visas every year for people and their families from around the world.

Two years ago, 108 Gambian families did win the Green Card lottery and last year only 72 people won. I don't know whether the number of applicants has gone down or not but it is legal and best way if you want to immigrate to the United States and live there. So I encourage everybody if you like to do that, don't come for the visa interview online illegally because you may hurt your chances of ever travelling to the United State again.

What is your final advice to visa applicants?

Well, my final advice to applicants is to tell the truth, come up, be honest, tell me why you want to go, tell me about your situation here, because by online and submitting fake documents, you are not only hurting yourself at this present interview but down by the road where you may have in the future qualified, but we are going to have a record where you previously lied and submitted fake documents which will make it tougher to ever get a visa.