Local travel agent Global Travel has been praised for going out of its way to assist ordinary Samoan citizens with their travel requirements, especially visa applications for New Zealand. 

The difficulties that ordinary Samoans face when applying for visas to travel to New Zealand has been in the news in recent weeks, in the lead-up to and after the visit of New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, with the public expressing concern that the process is complex and a lot of them lack credit cards to make online payments.

A couple, who spoke to the Samoa Observer on the condition of anonymity, said they are grateful for the service provided by staff of Global Travel in getting their travel documents sorted. 

"We had difficulties in filling out our forms and processing our papers as we are not familiar with these things," the couple told this newspaper. 

"However, we are grateful to the staff and workers at Global Travel for their kind assistance in helping us get our papers sorted. We would would not have been able to get our visas sorted if we did not go to Global Travel. 

"They were even kind enough to let us use their visa cards to pay for the other fees needed to process our papers because we didn't have one."

In an interview with Jackie Fepuleai of Global Travel, she confirmed that their office is packed with Samoan citizens going in for assistance with their visas and other travel requirements in the past couple of weeks. 

"Especially now that our international borders have opened up," Mrs. Fepuleai told the Samoa Observer. "We have been getting a lot of people lining outside our office wanting assistance to get their visas and travel documents sorted.

"These are ordinary Samoan citizens who have been longing to travel to see their loved ones as well as those who are wishing to go for funerals and many other reasons."

Mrs. Fepuleai said the majority of the clients they served and assisted are from the rural areas and don't understand the process as well as the language used in the forms.

"They come in asking for help for the simplest things because they don't understand and are not aware of what to do and how to get their visas sorted. 

"We have had people coming all the way from Aleipata and they came in for help because they do not have access to a computer and they don't understand what they need to do. 

"So we try our best to assist them the best way possible and we do not turn anyone down s what we have been doing is to assist them with basic admin work, we interpret and help them understand what is needed for their applications. 

"Some of the people that have been coming in for help don't have access to computers and they don't know how to fill in these forms that are required for them to get their visas and process their applications. 

"We've had people coming in wanting to lodge their visas so they can fly over to New Zealand to be there for their loved ones on their final day on earth and we try our best to assist them but we can only do so much because we are not an immigration agency."

 According to Mrs. Fepuleai, they feel compelled to assist because a lot of visa applicants just want to visit family in New Zealand. 

"We understand that for us, Samoans, family comes first and we drop everything and want to be with our loved ones when someone pass away. 

"That is why we try our best to assist our people who have been coming in for help wanting to travel overseas to be with their loved ones, especially to attend funerals. 

"It's not that complicated to apply for visas and process paper works for those traveling to Australia, but it's a little complicated for people wanting to travel to New Zealand. 

"We offer our service and cater for the needs of our people the best way we can and it's something we just like to do for our people. 

"The majority of those who have come to us for help don't have visa cards to pay for most of the fees that are required to lodge their visas. So we try and assist them by offering our cards while they give us cash. 

"It's making things easier for those who are in need of help during these difficult times."

While Mrs. Fepuleai admits that it has added to their load of work, she said that their staff are happy to be of service to the people.

"It's a lot of work for us, but we are happy to cater for the needs of our people. Even if it's just interpreting and helping them understand the process and what they need to do. 

"We had to open up our office on Monday during the Father's Day public holiday because we had clients calling us up and people coming in for assistance. 

"We usually close at 5 pm but we have been extending our working hours because we still have people waiting outside our office asking for help. 

"Some time we close at 9 pm depending on the number of people coming into our office. 

"I guess what we want people to know and understand is that we are not an immigration office. However, we are here to help. 

"We can help them understand and assist them with admin work or anything they would need help for relating to their travel documents. 

"We are willing to help them anyway we can so they can lodge their visas."

Prior to the New Zealand Prime Minister's visit, the Opposition Leader and veteran politician, Tuilaepa Dr. Sa'ilele Malielegaoi called on the leaders of both Governments to make the visa process simple for ordinary Samoans. 

"It is very hard for our people to apply for visas to go to New Zealand because the government of New Zealand have opted to do everything online," Tuilaepa said. 

"The majority of our people don't have access to these devices or understand how to apply for visas online and the leaders of the two Government honor the Treaty of Friendship by making this easier for our people and the issue should be pushed for by our leaders."

The New Zealand High Commissioner to Samoa, Dr. Trevor Matheson opted not to comment on the concerns raised by Tuilaepa, when contacted by this newspaper. 

During her visit to Samoa, Prime Minister Ardern was vague when queried on the issue of visa-free access for Samoans entering her country. 

She instead talked about easing travel restrictions for diplomats and politicians. 

 “We think the movement of politicians and diplomats in particular should be easier into New Zealand so we are working on making that movement much more seamless,” Ms. Ardern said.