3,500 Visa applicants so far for FIFA World Cup
Three thousand five hundred visa applications for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil next month had been received by the Brazillian embassy in Accra as at close of work last Friday.
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The number is, however, expected to increase to about 5,000 as the time for the tournament draws nearer.
Despite the huge response from football fans eager to make the trip, the Brazillian Embassy in Accra has not been overcrowded by applicants as most of the submission has been done by tour operators on behalf of groups.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at her office last Friday, Irene Vida Gala, the Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, said the staff at the visa section of the embassy, including herself, were now working extra hours to handle the huge response from applicants.
"At the moment, the visa section is busy but not crowded. We want to make sure that everyone who qualifies and has applied is attended to as quickly as possible and so everyone is working extra time here," Madam Gala said.
Madam Gala also said to better serve the World Cup visa applicants, the embassy had suspended work on tourists and business visas, as all the focus has been shifted to the World Cup.
"Between now till the middle of June, the embassy will not be issuing visas to tourists and those who wish to travel to Brazil for business due to the huge demand from those going to the World Cup which at the moment takes priority.
"Unless it is a compelling emergency, I entreat anyone wishing to apply for a tourist or business visa to wait till the middle of June when the pressure has eased," Madam Gala said.
While saying that her outfit is handling the pressure well, she was disappointed that people did not put in their application early enough and had to wait till this time to apply.
"Even though we started receiving World Cup application from April, it was not until last week that the applicants starting coming in their numbers. In a day, we can receive about 450 applications but we are ready to handle the pressure," she said.
She also said so far, there had not been any reason to reject anyone's application, as all the applicants have met the requirements of having tickets to the matches, the air tickets, as well as accommodation reservation.