The US Embassy has revoked the visa of at least 10–20 judges implied in corruption affairs. The statement, published today on the website of the US Embassy, doesn’t specify the exact number. Owing to confidentiality regulations, the names of the magistrates who had their visa revoked have not been made public.
This is the full statement:
The U.S. Embassy has revoked the non-immigrant visas of several Albanian judges and prosecutors after determining that the officials no longer qualify for these visas. Because visa records are confidential under U.S. law, we cannot comment on individual cases. The U.S. Embassy took this action in advance of the upcoming vetting process that will assess certain officials’ ties to corruption and in response to a case involving the flagrant abuse of an official visa by a senior prosecutor and his spouse, leading to a revocation of their visas.
The U.S. Embassy takes seriously allegations of corruption and will continue to review justice officials’ visas and visa applications with additional scrutiny. The Department of State has broad authority to deny and revoke visas based on information indicating that a visa holder may be inadmissible to the United States, and will continue to use this authority to advance its anti-corruption efforts in Albania.
