THE United States (US) Embassy in Guyana is assisting Americans currently in Guyana who are having difficulty departing the country, following a high number of inquiries on same.

Taking to its Facebook page on Monday, the US Embassy put out a survey of six questions which sought to determine the nationality of those who might need help and how many.
“If you are an American citizen having difficulty departing Guyana, please complete the survey so that we can better track how many Americans may need help,” the short message encouraged.

“We are trying to keep up with high numbers of calls and emails from American citizens. There are no flights departing Guyana today. We will keep you informed when we learn of possible flight options.”

On March 17, 2020, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Lt. Col. (ret’d) Egbert Field, announced that, to slow the process of COVID-19 in the country, Guyana would close its airports to all international flights for two weeks, beginning at midnight on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

Exception has been given to outgoing flights, cargo flights, Medevac flight, technical stops by airplanes for fuel and special authorised flights. Based on consultation with the Ministry of Public Health, if deemed necessary, this period can be extended. The survey put out by the Embassy, on Monday, sought to determine whether the person taking the survey was an American citizen in Guyana seeking flight departure to the US; his/her name and contact information; the number of American and/ non-American citizen family members he/she hopes to travel with; their US destination state and whether they are enrolled in the US Department of State Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

The STEP is a free service to allow US citizens and nationals travelling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest US Embassy or Consulate. Through the programme, persons can receive important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in their destination country and can help the Embassy contact individuals in the case of an emergency, whether natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency.

Meanwhile, as both the US and Guyana work to stop the spread of COVID-19, non-immigrant visa appointments and immigrant visa appointments were suspended as of March 16 and 17 respectively by the local embassy with no new date for recommencement. “Recognizing that some American citizens travelled to Guyana to accompany their family members applying for immigrant visas, we continue to provide emergency visa appointments,” the Embassy stated.