This is insane!!!
US has stopped issuing visas to Israelis, except in emergencies
Move is due to staff reductions at the embassy in light of the security situation
The US embassy in Tel Aviv is not issuing travel visas to Israelis until further notice except in emergency cases.
In a statement, the embassy said it is only issuing urgent visas, and applicants can email the embassy to see if their circumstances fit that definition. The cause of the delay is that the embassy has reduced its staff due to the security situation, and there are not enough employees to conduct the personal interview stage of the process.
The reduction is staff is a precaution during wartime, to reduce the number of those affected in case of a direct attack.
Even in emergency cases, the embassy said issuing a visa could take two to three days at least.
In a related development, there are reports that residents of countries like Ireland and China are having trouble getting travel visas to the US because of a problem with the US Immigration Authority`s database. Some observers have speculated that the problem resulted from an attack by hackers.
A week ago, the US State Department issued a travel warning to US citizens against travelling to Israel and the West Bank. Most other countries that issued travel warnings, including Japan and Australia, merely warned their citizens not to visit within 40 km of the border with Gaza, as well as not to visit Gaza City itself.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has also issued a travel warning to Israelis who wish to visit Turkey, due to the tense atmosphere there since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge.
They did this before except they were working with Maduro not to let people out -Cuba style.
U.S. Embassy in Venezuela to stop issuing some tourism visas as unrest continues
BY JIM WYSS
JWYSS@MIAMIHERALD.COM
BOGOTA, Colombia — One day after the U.S. Embassy in Caracas said it was suspending appointments for first-time applicants of tourism visas due to lack of staff, Venezuelan authorities called it a “reprisal” but also said they would seek solutions.
In a statement Sunday, the U.S. Embassy said it could no longer accept B-1 and B-2 tourism visa requests from first-time applicants “until further notice” because of a lack of consular officials. Venezuela ejected three consular officers last month on allegations that they had been fueling ongoing protests, and the embassy said the Venezuelan government was “delaying issuing visas” for new embassy staff.
On Monday, National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello called the decision a “reprisal” but said the government was willing to work with the State Department.
“If they need to send more officials to Venezuela to take care of visas, then we will very gladly collaborate with them,” he said, according to El Universal newspaper.
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf denied that the consular pullback was retribution amid souring bilateral relations.
“This decision was completely resource-based, personnel-based. It was just a numbers issue,” she said. “We just don’t have the manpower now because our folks were expelled and we don’t have new people that have replaced them to just handle the applicants.”
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas was not authorized to provide additional details.