The US Embassy in Yaounde has come up with a new visa application procedure for people seeking entry into the US, and it will go into effect tomorrow, Thursday, July 31.

The new system, according to Pamela Kazi and Timothy Lewis, Consul at the embassy and staff respectively; visa applicants will be required to fill out an application form on the embassy's website , create a unique online account and pay the processing fee at a participating ECOBANK branch in the country.

The payment will be automatically updated in the applicant’s online account. The applicant is expected to sign into his or her account after two working days and look for available days to book an appointment for an interview with a consular official.

The new process does not oblige applicants to visit the embassy to find out when they have been scheduled for an interview. After the online booking, every applicant is supposed to visit the embassy on the date and time scheduled online for the appointment. Besides, a call centre has been set up for applicants needing assistance.

The consular officials said the new system has been tested and found to be more secure and reliable in countries that have used it. They said it is being introduced in Cameroon because booking visa appointments had become too difficult and at times no one showed up at the embassy on certain days because internet fraud stars almost hijacked the system, depriving legitimate people who really needed appointments.

“Cyber attendants used to hi-jack appointments online in order to sell them later to people seeking visa appointments. This new process will make it impossible for an individual to book more than one appointment, and each appointment will be gotten only after the visa processing fee of 80,000FCFA has been paid.” Kazi told reporters in a press conference at the embassy in Yaounde.

She said that the cost of the application has neither increased nor dropped, following the introduction of the new process. “Same as the previous process, those who are granted visas are obliged to pay a visa fee. The cost of the visa will depend on the type of visa sought and its duration” she said.

Lewis added that the process of visa applications for immigrant visas has been maintained and that it is possible that it might be modified in the future in order to make things easier and secure for applicants. He said diplomats, US citizens and government officials travelling to the states on diplomatic missions are exempted from this new process.