The United States introduced visa restrictions for citizens of Kyrgyzstan only because of passports. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Kyrgyzstan, Donald Lu, said in an interview with Azattyk.
He noted that the public voices different versions, for example, that the reason was the closure of the American airbase in the Kyrgyz Republic, the level of corruption in the country or a violation of freedom of speech.
This is all not true. There is only one reason — Kyrgyzstan does not issue electronic biometric passports to citizens.
U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic Donald Lu
«You can see a list of 160 countries that issue electronic or biometric passports on the ICAO website. It is impossible to fake chips in biometric passports. 30 countries have not yet introduced such passports, and Kyrgyzstan is among them,» the diplomat is quoted as saying.
U.S. authorities have included Kyrgyzstan, Eritrea, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania in the list of countries whose citizens are subject to visa restrictions. Restrictions will not affect tourists and businessmen working with the USA. The measures target immigrants wishing to settle in the United States.
In May 2019, the Bishkek Interdistrict Court canceled the victory in the tender for the purchase of forms for biometric passports. By a court ruling, the decision about Garsu Pasaulis’ victory in a tender for the production of new biometric passports for Kyrgyzstan was declared invalid. In connection with the scandal, the Kyrgyzstanis were left without biometric passports.
