THE United States has lifted the ban on issuing non-immigrant visas to Guyanese triggered by a dispute over the return of criminal deportees to this country.

As a result, the U.S. Embassy here yesterday announced that its Consular Section has reinstated its normal visa application procedures, including use of the drop box for eligible applicants.

It said visa applicants who were refused under Section 243(d) alone of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, can submit a new application with fee receipt and photo to the embassy's Non-Immigrant Section Monday to Friday from 07:00 hrs to 11:00 hrs.

President Bharrat Jagdeo welcomed the lifting of the ban which had affected Government functionaries, employees and their families.

"We have worked towards this and I think good sense has prevailed. I'm very happy," he told the Chronicle yesterday afternoon.

In a statement, the U.S. Embassy said the U.S. Department of Justice "has determined that the Government of Guyana has made significant progress in documenting and accepting the return of Guyanese citizens subject to removal from the United States."

The embassy noted that the visa suspension was imposed in accordance with Section 243 (d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

"The U.S. Government looks forward to continued cooperation with the Government of Guyana to document additional Guyanese citizens who are subject to deportation from the United States and for whom travel documents are required," the embassy said.

The ban went into force October 10 after Guyana failed to meet a 30-day deadline the U.S. set for it to put arrangements in place for the deportation of 113 Guyanese U.S. law breakers.

So far, the Chronicle understands that about 82 of the 113 deportees have been shipped back here either by charter or commercial flights.

Foreign Minister, Mr. Rudy Insanally told the Chronicle that travel documents for all those remaining to be sent back here have already been issued.

He said the lifting of the visa ban, which he called a "welcome" development, sets the stage for concrete negotiations between the two countries on a Memorandum of Understanding that will set out clearly the conditions under which Guyanese would be deported in the future.

Guyana's diplomatic missions in Washington and New York are working on verifying claims by a few of the deportees that they are entitled to benefits for having lived and worked in the U.S. for a number of years, he said.

While Guyana has confirmed that the 113 persons listed by the U.S. were genuine Guyanese cases and have satisfied U.S. requirements for their deportation, Insanally said there is another group of more than 200 wanted out of the U.S. for breaking various aspects of the country's laws.

The Foreign Minister said that travel documents for some of these are already being prepared, as the process of verifying their identities has been expedited.

The sloth in verifying the first list of names given by the U.S. was partly responsible for the delay in issuing travel documents, officials here said.

There is greater efficiency now Insanally noted, adding, "we just had to make the system work."

He said too that the level of cooperation on both sides has helped to speed up the process of verifying that those who the U.S. say are Guyanese are really Guyanese.

Local social security services are available to the deportees, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Human Services, Social Security and Labour, Ms. Mitra Devi Ali, said yesterday.

She said that so far details of about 60 of the deportees are with the ministry's official data collection unit, providing helpful information in case a deportee contacts the ministry for assistance.

While she was unable to give specifics, Ali said financial assistance from the ministry's Difficult Circumstances Fund has been given to some of the deportees.

She said that her information is that some of the deportees who have nowhere to stay have also been taking advantage of the Night Shelter in East La Penitence, Georgetown.