A new analysis from the US Travel Association has shown that the visa wait times for millions of potential visitors continue to remain embarrassingly high – up to 900 days for nationals of some countries.
According to the US Travel Association, there is a concerning lack of progress in reducing the wait times for first-time visitor visa applications, which exceed one year in the top ten visa-requiring markets, VisaGuide.World reports.
Commenting on the matter, the President and CEO of the US travel Association, Geoff Freeman, said that it is unacceptable for the country to have such long wait times and stressed that this is discouraging millions of visitors from reaching the US.
“Millions of potential visitors to the US who want to come here to purchase American products, see their families and otherwise support the American economy have no choice but to plan trips years in advance or go elsewhere, given these outrageous wait times. It’s completely unacceptable and sends a message to the world that international visitors and their spending aren’t welcome here,” Freeman stated.
Data provided by the US Travel Association show that average current wait times for US visitor visa for some of the largest visa-requiring markets are as follows – for citizens of Colombia – 886 days, Mexico – 587 days, Brazil – 492 days, India – 458 days, and China – 77 days.
Apart from sharing the above-mentioned, the Association said that the long wait times are making the US lose its competitiveness in the global market.
For example, the United Kingdom has already dropped the visitor visa requirement for Colombians, who currently face wait times of up to 900 days when applying for a US visitor visa. Such a thing has pushed Colombians to choose the UK as their travel destination instead of the US to avoid undergoing visa requirements.
Due to the current long wait times, it is estimated that the US will register a loss of 2.6 million visitors and $7 billion in spending during this year. Moreover, the country is expected to deal with other issues too, mainly linked to its economy.
The US Visitor Visa permits all of its holders to enter the US and stay in the country for a maximum period of six months.
The US visitor visa is divided into two categories – the B1 Visa and the B2 Visa. Those planning to enter the US for business purposes need to apply for a B1 visa, whereas those planning to enter the US for travel purposes need to apply for a B2 visa.
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