Boris Johnson’s girlfriend has been denied a visa to visit the United States

News24xx.com -  Boris Johnson’s girlfriend Carrie Symonds has been denied a visa to visit the United States. The Prime Minister’s partner was hoping to travel to America on a work trip in the coming days.

Ms Symonds, 31, works as an advisor to Oceana, a US-based environmental group working to protect the world’s oceans thought her bid to obtain a visitor’s permit could have been scuppered by her travel history.

Ms Symonds recently visited Somaliland - a nation which does not have diplomatic relations with the United States.

She made the five-day visit last year, meeting with the country’s self-declared president Muse Bihi Abdi to discuss women's issues and sea pollution.

Ms Symonds would have had to declare such a visit while filling out a form for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta) to enter the United States.

The online screening process allows visitors to enter the US for up to 90 days without obtaining a formal visa, providing they do not pose a security risk.

But declaring a visit to Somaliland is likely to get any such visa-waiver thrown out automatically because of political unrest in the region.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia following a brutal civil war, declaring itself an independent state in 1991.

Ms Symonds will most likely have to visit the US Embassy in person to arrange a formal visa to travel to the United States.

Downing Street declined to comment.

 

 

 

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