Press Releases
America's Welcome Mat is Out
Enhancements to the U.S. Visa Process
February 1, 2007
The Department of State has worked relentlessly over the past five years to improve the transparency, efficiency and predictability of the U.S. visa process. Our commitment is to maintain America’s welcome to legitimate travelers while vigilantly protecting U.S. border security for the benefit of American citizens and our foreign visitors. Recent innovations to streamline visa processing include:
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- An electronic visa application form promotes efficient data-entry, and increases the number of applicants each office can interview daily;
- All consular offices post their visa appointment wait times on-line;
- Students and urgent business travelers receive priority appointments at all posts;
- We added 570 consular positions worldwide, and are transferring some positions to ensure that workloads are evenly distributed;
- We have invested millions in technology to improve datasharing and speed interagency clearance processing.
The Results (Fiscal Year 2006 compared to Fiscal Year 2005)
Total visa applications up 5% worldwide -- Up 9% for Turks
Up 17% for Chinese
Up 8% for Indians
Up 30% for Brazilians
Up 13% for Koreans
Total visa issuance up 8% worldwide -- Up 10% for Turks
Up 17% for Chinese
Up 15% for Indians
Up 41% for Brazilians
Up 12% for Koreans
Business/tourist visa issuance up 12% -- Up 8% for Turks
Up 16% for Chinese
Up 12% for Indians
Up 70% for Brazilians
Up 13% for Koreans
Student/exchange visitor visas up 14% -- Up 18% for Turks
Up 30% for Chinese
Up 30% for Indians
Up 22% for Brazilians
Up 17% for Koreans
Up 30% for Chinese Up 30% for Indians Up 22% for Brazilians Up 17% for Koreans
The wait for a temporary business/tourist visa appointment (January 2007):
30 days or less: 90% of posts
15 days or less: 80% of posts
One week or less: 66% of posts -- Turkey is in this category
Processing time following interview:
Issued within 2 days: 97% -- Turkey is in this category
Average processing time if additional clearance needed: 2 weeks
Are We Satisfied? Never!
Planned enhancements over the next two years include:
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- An all-electronic visa process;
- A centralized visa appointment management system;
- Remote data collection;
- Pilot projects for interviews via digital videoconference
- 10 print fingerscans will be collected from all applicants worldwide by end of 2007.
goto article >>US To Welcome Record Number of Visitors in 2007