Kyrgyz MPs take part in 68th Annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.

Bishkek, Feb.7, 2020. /Kabar/. Deputy Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh (Kyrgyz Parliament) Aida Kasymaliyeva and Deputy Jyrgalbek Turuskulov on behalf of the Kyrgyz Republic took part in the 68th Annual National Prayer Breakfast, which has been held in Washington since 1953. According to the Parliament's press service, the breakfast was held a few hours after the Senate's impeachment hearing ended with the acquittal of U.S. President Donald Trump. Deputy Speaker Kasymaliyeva said one of the most important tasks of the Kyrgyz-U.S. agenda is to promptly take measures to lift visa restrictions on Kyrgyz citizens. "During the meetings it becomes clear that the problem is really only one - the lack of biometric passports. This was emphasized by U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Donald Lou and Kyrgyz Ambassador to the United States Bolot Otunbayev, who held a number of official meetings on this issue. Although head of the State Registration Service (Almaz Mambetov) said the introduction of passports is planned for January 2021, the Parliament, and especially prime minister, should make every effort to take personal control of this issue in order to get off the list as soon as possible. This issue will be under my personal control at the Jogorku Kenesh," she said. The deputy speaker added the Kyrgyz diaspora in the US, with whom MPs met at the Kyrgyz Embassy in America, also expressed great concern on this issue. During the meeting it was noted that to date more than 5.5 thousand citizens of Kyrgyzstan, who temporarily or permanently reside in the U.S. and Canada, have been officially registered at the Embassy's consular registration. However, these statistics do not reflect the actual number of citizens living in these countries. According to the information received by the survey, more than 25 thousand Kyrgyz citizens live in the USA and Canada. According to data from the Internal Ministry, between 1999 and 2019 more than 10 thousand Kyrgyz migrants obtained the status of legal permanent resident of the United States (green card holders). On Jan. 31, 2020 the USA imposed immigrant and diversity visa restrictions that suspend the entry of Kyrgyz immigrants. According to the decree, Kyrgyzstan is subject to entry restrictions on the issuance of following visas: • "Family-Based Immigration visa"; • "Employment-Based Immigration" (E); • "Diversity Immigrant visa" (DV); • "Returning Lawful Permanent Resident" (SB). The ban does not apply to non-immigrant visas, i.e. the most common types of visas for citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic (for tourism, business, education, treatment, etc., including 5-year tourist/business visas). The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., usually on the first Thursday in February. The founder of this event was Abraham Vereide. The event—which is actually a series of meetings, luncheons, and dinners—has taken place since 1953 and has been held at least since the 1980s at the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Avenue NW. The National Prayer Breakfast, held in the Hilton's International Ballroom, is typically attended by some 3,500 guests, including international invitees from over 100 countries. It is designed to be a forum for the political, social, and business elite to assemble and pray together.