Visa Interview Wait Times Reach New Highs: 247 Days for Visitors/ ​Business Travelers

David J. BierAs the State Department finally reopens U.S. consulates for non ‐​emergency visa interviews, wait times have grown significantly. Interviews for both immigrant and nonimmigrant (i.e. temporary) applicants are extraordinarily delayed. The latest data from U.S. consulates abroad show that some visa interviews can routinely take over a year, and a majority of consulates now take over six months to schedule a tourist or business traveler.Figure 1  shows visa interview wait times since April 2021.At that time, 76 percent of consulates were fully or partially closed to nonemergency nonimmigrant visa appointments. In July 2022, student visa interviews are backlogged 49  days—five times the wait pre‐​pandemic. Temporary work visas are backed up 75 days—up from 12. But the wait times apocalypse has come for tourists and business travelers: 247 days—up from just 17 before March 2020. This is an astounding 8‑month wait to visit the United States for a  period of at most just 90 days and usually much less than that.Figure 2  shows that in July 2022, 52 percent of consulates were scheduling tourist and business traveler interviews 6 months or more out. 27 percent were scheduling a year or longer away. In Santiago, applicants can expect to wait 886 days, or 2.5 years. This should not be a huge surprise. The consula tes simply refused to do their jobs for 2 years. Aside from the huge blow to tourism, business travelers cannot plan business meetin...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs