The United States may start its periodic non-immigrant visa (NIV) services in Nuku'alofa before the end of November this year, said the Deputy Secretary of Tonga's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tevita Kolokihakaufisi on Friday.

Tevita said a team from the US Embassy in Suva, Fiji, would visit Tonga next month to inspect a building, previously occupied by the Oceania Broadcasting Network, to be their temporary office in Nuku'alofa.

He said that US Embassy Nuku'alofa office would be temporary because it is not possible for the United States to open a full-time consular office in Tonga. The frequency of the visits of US Embassy staff to Tonga would depend on the volume of applications submitted in Nuku'alofa.

The US Embassy team will include engineers to inspect the office space. The requirements will be provided by the Tongan Government.

Visa adjudication

Tevita said that the adjudication services for NIV may start before the end of November.

The decision by the USA to offer non-immigrant visa service in Nuku'alofa was the outcome of a meeting between the US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Tonga's Prime Minister Dr. Feleti Sevele on May 12.

In a press release issued by the US Embassy, Suva in May it said, the United States was very aware that many Tongans were unhappy with having to travel to Suva to receive an NIV interview, as it was an expensive trip with no guarantee of success.

Since 9/11, the United States had required NIV applicants around the world to provide electronic fingerprints at the same time as the visa interview takes place. That had meant visa adjudication had to take place inside a U.S. embassy or consulate. 

But the U.S. is developing a technology, which may open possibilities for some amount of periodic visa adjudication in Tonga, it stated.

The portable technology is very new and it has not been used in an environment similar to that of Tonga.