In Chapter 2 of Adichie’s Americanah, Obinze briefly touched on the accessibility of visas for foreigners to travel to countries such as the United States. In many countries, specifically populations that are predominately white, traveling to other countries around the world is as easy as just buying an airplane ticket and showing their passports at customs. Meanwhile, the citizens of the countries that they visit are restricted the same privilege and opportunity. They go through interviews, background checks, and pay large amounts of money just to be considered to receive a tourist visa. In Obinze’s earlier situation, he was not wealthy and got denied a visa. It wasn’t until he had money and moved upward in society, he was granted one. It states “He had been refused a visa years ago, when he was newly graduated and drunk with American ambitions, but with his new bank statements, he easily got a visa” (Adichie 33).
Americans have the privilege to travel anywhere in the world without the same restrictions that the United States and many European countries impose on foreigners. U.S. citizens can book a flight to Nigeria with only their blue passports, while Obinze and many people from “underdeveloped countries” go through extensive processes just to be considered to acquire a visa, and often be rejected or take months to years to acquire.
Should first world countries, such as the United States, have the ability to travel freely while the people of the country they visit undergo expensive and stringent processes?
Sources
“Chapter 2.” Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Anchor Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, 2013, pp. 23-44.