The highest rates in 2015 were found to be in African and Middle Eastern countries, including Syria and Somalia, whilst Cuba and Laos also had high denial rates.<\/p>\n
Like in 2015, Cuba had the highest rate of U.S. visa refusal of any country worldwide, with 81.9 percent of all Cuban applications turned down in 2016.<\/p>\n Afghanistan\u00a0came second for visa denials with 73.8 percent of all applications refused.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the highest rates of refusal were recorded across Africa with Mauritania and Liberia both having rates higher than 70 percent.<\/p>\n The conventional visa application process begins with the submission of the non-immigrant\u00a0visa application\u00a0online followed by the payment of the application fee\u00a0at a designated bank to sign up for an interview.<\/p>\n The applicant has to have documents that indicate a stable life and the unlikelihood of a visa overstay.<\/p>\n This is followed by an interview\u00a0with a Foreign Service officer which can take up to four months to secure in some countries.<\/p>\n The applicant\u2019s information is\u00a0checked against American and foreign databases with officers from various U.S. agencies also conducting interviews and further research into one\u2019s background.<\/p>\n The Visa is then issued if everything is deemed satisfactory, though a successful applicant may undergo an additional round of\u00a0behind-the-scenes screening by American customs officers at the airport.<\/p>\n![\"Infografic](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/9128be3c-45cb-45f8-8051-59f8cdd72470-1.jpg\")