Memorandum by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United States Mission at the United Nations ( Power ) to the United States Representative at the United Nations ( Austin )
Subject: Visit to the Mission of Mr. L’Heureux, Chief of the Visa Division, to Confer on Visa Matters regarding UN-Connected Personnel
Mr. L’Heureux, Chief of the Visa Division, is being sent by Mr. Boykin, Director of the Office of Controls, to discuss with us on [Page 60] Tuesday, April 26, outstanding problems regarding issuance of visas to persons connected with UN activities. It would be very helpful to us if you would take a few moments to greet Mr. L’Heureux on Tuesday morning. We should also like to invite him to the Delegation meeting if one is held.
Mr. L’Heureux’s specific assignment is to discuss your proposal to the Department, in a Despatch dated February 8, that visas of Delegation members be renewed on the same courtesy basis as for Embassy personnel in Washington.2 Our proposal sprang from requests for such renewals from the Canadian, Norwegian and Belgian Delegations in particular. VD told us it lacked personnel to handle such requests. However, Delegations feel the Department’s unwillingness to renew visas of their members indicates that we considered them second-class diplomats. Therefore, we recommended that Mr. Maffitt, who holds a commission as a Consul, be authorized to renew visas. We had no reply to your note, despite repeated requests. When I called the delay in reply to Mr. Boykin’s attention a few days ago, he ordered Mr. L’Heureux to come to New York to deal with the matter.
The visa renewal procedure should be easily arranged, for we know VD is preparing to handle renewals although we have not been officially so informed. Therefore, we wish to take the opportunity of Mr. L’Heureux’s visit to renew our suggestion to the Department that comprehensive instructions be sent Consular officers regarding the issuance of visas not only to Delegations and Secretariat officials but also to other persons who, under the terms of the Headquarters Agreement, are entitled to particular treatment or consideration. These include representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations, journalists, and other public information personnel; persons invited to the Headquarters District by the Secretary-General or UN organs or agencies, and dependents and servants of Delegation and Secretariat personnel. Despite our repeated suggestions, the Department has not adequately instructed Consular officers on these matters, with the result that a great deal of confusion exists in the field, and difficulties constantly arise to embarrass us.
We plan a full and friendly discussion of visa matters with Mr. L’Heureux. We shall not, of course, indulge in recriminations. As an experienced Foreign Service Officer, Mr. L’Heureux should recognize the importance of effective and efficient procedures to comply with the requirements of US law and treaty obligations, and at the same time to preserve our good relations with Delegations, the Secretariat, and public opinion. We will present concrete suggestions for improving [Page 61] the situation in the light of our national interest. We shall also arrange for the appropriate UN officials to meet with Mr. L’Heureux.
As you are aware, we have to spend an enormous amount of time and energy in resolving visa problems. In many instances the Visa Division, were it not restrained, would have violated the Charter and the Headquarters Agreement. Although the situation has improved during the past year after my several conferences in the Department, the assignment of an officer of UNI to follow such work on an almost full-time basis, and our unrelenting efforts via phone, cable and mail, the situation is still far from satisfactory. A number of procedures which we have established with VD after long discussions are not working smoothly. Action by VD is also entirely too slow for our needs on many occasions in connection with visas for NGO representatives and journalists. Time after time we have to handle visa problems on a crisis basis with repeated memoranda and phone calls to the Department and frequent appeals to Mr. Rusk,3 Mr. Gross,4 or other ranking officers of the Department to intervene to avert violation of our international agreements.
[Power then offers on a personal basis an explanation of USUN’s difficulties with the Visa Division.]
- Central unnumbered subject files retained at the Mission.↩
- USUN despatch No. 138, February 8, 1949, not printed. Ambassador Austin had made a strong request for “favorable action”, closing the despatch with the hope for such “at any early opportunity.” (USUN Files, Folder “IO:P&I:Dels”)↩
- Dean Rusk, Deputy Under Secretary of State (see editorial note, p. 1).↩
- Ernest A. Gross, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations. The reference obviously refers to the period when Gross was Legal Adviser of the Department of State, August 16, 1947–March 3, 1949.↩