Is it the crowd who issues visas?

Experts have criticized the protest against the US Embassy in Kathmandu, staged under the leadership of a sitting lawmaker to press the embassy to issue a travel visa to Nepali cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Vijay Kant Karna, a former ambassador, emphasized that it is up to each country to decide whom to allow entry. “Not only the US, Nepal also has dozens of countries in its blacklist, meaning it is quite difficult for the nationals of those countries to obtain Nepali visa,” he says.

Chandra Dev Bhatta, an expert on foreign policy and geopolitics, agrees. “Issuing/denying visas is a sovereign right of a country,” he says: “Mass demonstrations are not the right approach when it comes to dealing with visa denials.” 

On May 29, Gyanendra Shahi, a Member of Parliament, had led a demonstration against the US Embassy in the House of Representatives after the host country denied him a visa for the second time in 10 days, crushing his hopes of participating in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the US and the West Indies. Karna warned that such actions could harm the long-standing relationship between Nepal and the US.

“Despite efforts, including a diplomatic note from the government of Nepal, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Sports Council, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), to secure cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane’s participation in the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies, the US Embassy has stated its inability to grant him a visa,” CAN announced in a press release.

Government Spokesperson Rekha Sharma acknowledged that the embassy had the right to deny visas, even to cricketers, regardless of the government’s initiatives.

Shiva Prasad Regmi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, told ApEx that it is a standard procedure for the sports ministry to seek assistance from the foreign ministry when athletes face visa issues, noting that they made similar requests in the past.

However, assistant spokesperson for MoFA, Rishi Raj Acharya, said he was unaware of the developments. The US embassy, following its initial visa denial, had stated it could not comment on individual visa cases due to confidentiality under the US law. 

Experts believe Lamichhane’s visa denial might be linked to ongoing legal issues, as the District Public Prosecutor’s Office plans to appeal his acquittal by the Patan High Court to the Supreme Court. Lamichhane had returned to Nepal from Trinidad & Tobago, where he was playing for the Caribbean Premier League, in response to an INTERPOL notice issued in connection with a rape case. They suggest that this may have influenced the visa decision.

The US had denied Narendra Modi a visa in 2005 for violation of religious freedom. Modi was supposed to be the chief guest at the Asian American Hotel Owners’ Association in Florida, but the 2002 Gujarat riots came to revisit him in the most unlikely of circumstances.