 Operation Iraqi Freedom
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael K. Martinson, non-commissioned officer in charge of the Central Visa Office located at Phoenix Base here is the sole person responsible for ensuring Iraqi military and government officials submit completed and correct visa applications to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, when a short suspense is needed. MNSTC-I initiated this office in mid-October. Before the office's conception, each visa that was need in less than 90 days was processed from random agencies throughout the theatre and sent directly to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. "There were a lot of inconsistencies with the applications," said Martinson. "The process was taking much longer than necessary and most Iraqi's could not understand why." The new program works like a help desk to facilitate an expeditious visa process as well as assist in building relationships with the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi's looking to secure visas in short time frames. "Most [U.S.] advisors will call me and ask if I can help," said Martin, "Then I send them an electronic packet of visa forms and instructions." Recently, Martin received a call to help facilitate the visa packets for several Iraqi Ministry of Defense and one Ministry of Interior personnel who were on a short suspense to get U.S. visa. "[They] were on a short timeline to shop for hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons systems," he said. The process of purchasing this type of equipment takes up to a year, said Martinson. In this case, however, the visa process was completed in less than 60 days. The process has essentially three parts: The applicant completes the packet, is administered a background check for any human rights violations, and must then be issued a diplomatic clearance letter from the Iraqi government. The application asks for details on the applicant's work experience, education and a list of all his or her family members, said Martinson. The names are then checked against any known human rights violators. This can be a challenging process because there are very common names among the Iraqis. Therefore, a thorough list of close and distant relatives is needed to distinguish between legitimate applicants and those who of the same name who wish to do harm. Some applicants have been former members of Saddam's Army. "No person of questionable human rights violations is accepted," said Martinson. The embassy allows for background checks to be run simultaneously with the draft of the diplomatic clearance letter to save time. The diplomatic clearance letter provides written verification confirming the Iraqi government is aware of the applicant's request for a visa and approves of his or her request. Once the packets are completed and Martin receives them, he reviews each one for completeness and hand carries them to the U.S. Embassy for timely processing. "The greatest challenge has been in getting the [applicants] to complete the packets," said Martinson. "Culturally they feel that all of the paper work is beneath them." |
