Passports and Visas

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona and is the largest city in the Mountain Time Zone.  The Phoenix Metropolitan Area has a population of 4.8 million—the tenth largest metropolitan area in the United States—and is one of the fastest growing cities in America.  New residents and businesses come here for the low cost of living and year-round warm weather.  Phoenix gets more sunshine than any other major city on the planet.  The Phoenix Metropolitan Area, also known as the Valley, includes the cities of Casa Grande, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Maricopa, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale, Surprise, and Tempe.  The Valley has a strong base of semiconductor, electronics, and aerospace manufacturers.  Real estate, construction, healthcare, financial services, and tourism are also major components of the Phoenix economy, which has over 200 golf courses, 500 hotels, and 40 resorts.  Phoenix has a small population of West African immigrants and an even smaller number of immigrants from Sierra Leone, but nevertheless, there are Sierra Leoneans in Arizona.  Many of these immigrants came nearly two decades ago during the end of the Sierra Leone Civil War. 

Las Vegas is the largest city in the state of Nevada and located in the Mojave Desert, bordering California and Arizona.  The Las Vegas metropolitan area, known as the Las Vegas Valley, includes Clark County and the cities of North Las Vegas, Henderson, and Boulder City, as well as several other unincorporated communities and neighborhoods.  The Las Vegas Valley has a population of 2.3 million people and has been America’s fastest growing city the past decade.  Although Las Vegas ranks only as the 28th-most populous city in the United States, there could be as many as 300,000 tourists visiting the city on any given day.  Las Vegas is known as “America’s Playground” and is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, attracting over 42 million visitors a year.  The city also hosts over 20,000 annual conventions, meetings, and trade shows each year including JCK Las Vegas, which is one of the largest jewelry events in the world and has diamond exhibitors whose product is mined in Sierra Leone.  The popularity of Las Vegas as a tourist destination has also turned the area into a magnet for immigrants due to the abundance of service and construction jobs, however, the Sierra Leone immigrant population is small—just a handful of refugees settled here after Sierra Leone’s civil war.   

San Francisco, known as the “City by the Bay”, is one of America’s most famous and beautiful cities.  Located in Northern California, San Francisco is just one of the many cities that together make up the San Francisco Bay Area, or Bay Area for short.  The 14-county combined statistical area (that comprises the Bay Area) has nearly 10 million people, making it the fifth-most populous region in the United States.  The Bay Area includes cities such as Oakland, Hayward, Berkeley, Vallejo, Concord, Pleasanton, Fremont, San Jose, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Sausalito, San Rafael, and Novato.  The economy of the Bay Area is one of the most vigorous and entrepreneurial in the world.  Silicon Valley (in the southern part of the Bay Area) has attracted engineers from all over the world and is home to many successful technology companies.  The Bay Area has several thousand West African immigrants, particularly in the East Bay, but the number of Sierra Leonean immigrants remains small.  Bay Area residents interested in learning more about Sierra Leone or building a professional network of people with knowledge of the country should connect with the Center for African Studies at the University of California, Berkeley or the Center for African Studies at Stanford University. 

Los Angeles is America’s second most populous city after New York.  Greater Los Angeles—which includes Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, Ventura County, and Orange County—has a population of nearly 19 million people.  If Greater Los Angeles were its own country, it would be the 15th largest economy in the world (its GDP is more than twice the size of the combined economies of Nigeria and Sierra Leone).  Known for its endless sprawl, Greater Los Angeles is the largest metropolitan region in the United States by land area and includes over 200 cities such as Santa Monica, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Burbank, Long Beach, Carson, Irvine, Anaheim, and Inglewood, which is a sister city of Bo, Sierra Leone (the country’s second largest city).  The immigrant population of Sierra Leoneans in Los Angeles is not huge, but the area is home to the Southern California United Brothers and Sisters of Sierra Leone, a nonprofit organization hosting events and providing services both locally and in Africa.  The city is also home to the James S. Coleman African Studies Center at University of California, Los Angeles, which is a great resource for residents of Southern California interested in networking with individuals having experience in Sierra Leone. 

Seattle is the largest city in America’s Pacific Northwest region and located in the state of Washington.  The Seattle metropolitan area has a population of 4 million people and is the fifteenth-largest metropolis in the United States.  Known as the “Emerald City”, Seattle is situated in a magnificent natural environment, surrounded by evergreen forests, mountains, and water.  Having no shortage of scenic views, outdoor activities, cultural events, trendy restaurants and coffee shops, it is no surprise that Seattle is a popular tourist destination with over 40 million visitors coming to the city each year. The Seattle metropolitan area is the headquarters of 11 Fortune 500 companies including famous consumer brands like Starbucks, Nordstrom, Costco, Amazon, and Microsoft.  Just 100 miles south of the Canadian border, Seattle is America's northernmost metropolis.  The Seattle metropolitan area includes the cities of Tacoma, Bellevue, Kent, Everett, Renton, Kirkland, and Redmond.  The population of Sierra Leoneans in Seattle is small since most immigrants from West Africa tend to settle on the East Coast of the U.S.  Seattle is home to several humanitarian aid organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that have donated millions of dollars to tackle public health issues in Sierra Leone.

Denver is the capital of Colorado and is one of the fastest growing cities in America.  The Denver Metropolitan area is the 19th most populous metro area in the U.S. and has a population approaching three million people.  The region’s growing and diverse economy—along with its proximity to Rocky Mountain ski resorts—make Denver an attractive destination for people seeking a more active and balanced lifestyle.  Denver has a diverse economy and strong foundation of Fortune 500 companies operating in various industries such as healthcare, financial services, media, apparel, electronics, mining, aerospace, energy, and food and beverage.  The Denver Metropolitan area includes the towns of Arvada, Aurora, Castle Rock, Centennial, Lakewood, Littleton, Thornton, and Westminster.  There are a few thousand West African immigrants from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Senegal living in Denver, but the Sierra Leonean population remains small.  Denver has several nonprofit organizations and faith-based organizations doing work throughout West Africa and the city is also home to the Africa Center at the University of Denver.  Denverites wanting to learn more about Sierra Leone and establish a network of contacts before their trip to the country can use these local resources to their advantage. 

Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan and the second largest metropolitan area in the Midwest (after Chicago).  Detroit is better known by its nickname “Motor City”, or “Motown”, because of its prominence as the global center of the automotive industry.  Although the city has certainly had its share of ups and downs, Detroit remains an important and influential American city.  The Detroit metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, has a population of 4.3 million and is the fourteenth-largest metropolis in the United States.  Metro Detroit includes the towns of Dearborn, Royal Oak, Auburn Hills, Livonia, Southfield, Rochester Hills, Warren, Pontiac, Sterling Heights, and other municipalities.  There are nearly 40,000 African-born immigrants throughout Metro Detroit and the state of Michigan; the Sierra Leonean immigrant population is small, but the area is home to the Sierra Leone Association Michigan, which hosts cultural events and provides charity services.  University of Michigan and Michigan State University both have an African Studies Center.  Michigan State University hosts seminars and events discussing African culture, history, and current events.  The university also offers resources for studying several African languages, including Mende, which is spoken in Sierra Leone.

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States and is an important global city that attracts visitors from all over the world.  The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area—which includes the District of Columbia and parts of Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia—is America’s sixth-largest metropolis and has a population of 6.3 million people.  Cities within this area (apart from the District of Columbia) include Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Reston—all in Virginia—along with the Maryland towns of Bethesda, College Park, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Silver Spring.  The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area has the largest population of Sierra Leonean immigrants in the United States and there are many nonprofit organizations in the suburbs of Virginia and Maryland that each have their own activities and projects to support this community.  Washington, D.C. is home to several U.S. federal government agencies offering support to the people of Sierra Leone such as USAID, Peace Corps, and Millennium Challenge Corporation.  Historically, Sierra Leone has deep ties to this part of the country: Annapolis, Maryland was the arrival point for many slave ships departing from Bunce Island, Sierra Leone during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade era. 

Boston is one of America’s oldest cities and has a rich history that attracts over 20 million tourists each year.  Known as the “intellectual capital of the United States”, Boston is a center of education that has more than 350,000 college students from around the world, making up over 7% of the metro area’s population.  The University of Boston has one of the oldest and largest African Studies programs in the country and offers courses in eight indigenous African languages.  Harvard University offers courses in Gullah, a creole language spoken by the descendants of slaves (many of whom came from Sierra Leone) in the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina.  The state of Massachusetts was home to Paul Cuffee, a Black American businessman and sea captain who was an instrument figure in the black-led emigration movement to Sierra Leone in the early 19^th century.  Greater Boston is the eleventh-most populous metropolitan area in the United States with a population of 4.9 million people, and includes towns such as Cambridge, Brookline, Quincy, Brockton, Lynn, Newton, Waltham, and Medford.  Just like other major cities on the East Coast, Boston has a sizable population of West African immigrants, which also includes Sierra Leoneans. 

Philadelphia is the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania and is one of the oldest cities in the United States.  Founded in 1682 by Englishman William Penn, a social reformer and champion of liberty, he named the city Philadelphia using the Greek term meaning “brotherly love”.  Philadelphia has the nickname “City of Brotherly Love” and is nowadays more casually known by locals and non-locals alike as “Philly”.  The Philadelphia metropolitan area has over 6 million people (America’s eighth-largest metropolis) and includes cities and towns in the states of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, in addition to Pennsylvania.  The area is well known as a center of higher education and has more than 80 postsecondary institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, Temple, Drexel, Villanova, and Thomas Jefferson University.  Philadelphia has a large population of West Africans immigrants, including several thousand Sierra Leoneans that have moved here in recent decades.  Philadelphia also has numerous West African restaurants, grocery stores, and shops in an area of the city known as “Little Africa”.  The diversity of Sierra Leone is on full display in Philadelphia, having a community made up of Muslims and Christians from several different Sierra Leonean ethnic groups.