(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Complaints the Chinese community aired about visa at the recent celebration of the Chinese New Year are baseless, says Lucretia Redan, head of the Consular Affairs department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the event, Chee Yuk Kee, chairman of the Chinese association Kong Ngie Tong Sang, called President Bouterse’s attention to problems with visa.
In his speech, Chee Yuk Kee had asked for speedier processing of applications for residence permits by Chinese. Bouterse immediately promised to study the problems surrounding the admission of ‘new’ Chinese. During a discussion organized by the Suriname Business Forum on Thursday, Redan stated that the remarks about too long waits are wrong. “Considering the number of applications and the rate of processing, one cannot say they must wait too long or longer than others. We don’t distinguish between nationalities when it comes to visa procedures.” On the contrary; the applications of Chinese are often processed easier and faster, as they fill in the required forms correctly. Of the 2,341 applications for residence permits filed last year, 1,007 were from Chinese. Of these 814 were approved and 11 rejected. The remaining ones are still being processed. Sixty-eight Chinese were granted a so-called Visa on Arrival which is for business people. The average waiting period for a visa is three months.
