Vancouver Sun ePaper

Prince Harry's U.S. visa under scrutiny

GORDON RAYNER

The Biden administration has been accused of “stonewalling” a legal bid to uncover details of Prince Harry's U.S. visa application using Freedom of Information laws.

A request to have the application fast-tracked on the grounds of exceptional public interest has been turned down, which has been described as an “outrageous” decision by the Washington-based think-tank pursuing the case.

The right-wing Heritage Foundation has now asked a judge to overturn the decision by the Department of Homeland Security and two of its agencies, with a hearing expected next month.

The Heritage Foundation demanded the immediate release of the Duke of Sussex's visa records in March after he admitted to drug-taking in his memoir, Spare.

It argued that Harry's records should be made public because admissions of drug use are grounds for inadmissibility in visa applications.

Harry has admitted to taking drugs including cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms.

Sources close to the prince have insisted he was truthful about his drug use on his visa application, which raises questions about whether he was given special treatment, the Foundation argues.

Under U.S. Freedom of Information laws, applications can be fast-tracked if there is “widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity which affect public confidence.” The Heritage Foundation argued that Prince Harry's case had cleared that bar, but the fasttrack application was turned down on the grounds that British-based publishers including The Telegraph, which had demanded answers over the visa application, were not sufficiently mainstream in the U.S. to count.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, said: “The Biden administration is clearly stonewalling here and they are trying to avoid releasing any documents.

“They are trying to do so by undermining the credibility of the British press, which is outrageous, and by concentrating their fire on the British press even though we have submitted articles in the U.S. press about the same subject.”

The Heritage Foundation has submitted Freedom of Information requests for Harry's visa application records to the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

In its written opposition to the fast-track request, the Department of Homeland Security described The Telegraph and other British publications as “niche” and also said it was not persuaded that there were exceptional circumstances that made an urgent response necessary.

Harry moved to California in 2020 with his wife, Meghan Markle. People who emigrate to the U.S. are usually given a three-year visa, meaning he will need to renew his visa this year or apply for a Green Card or citizenship.

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2023-05-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

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