by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:05 AM ET, Thu March 28, 2024
The United States government passed legislation that allots $50
million in funding for the Department of State to reduce visa wait times for
inbound international visitors.
Members of Congress approved government spending package
H.R.2882 on March 23, which was designed, in part, to lower visitor visa
interview wait times and facilitate inbound visitation growth.
In December, the State Department revealed that processing
times for passports returned to the standard set before
the coronavirus pandemic, with the documents being processed within 6-8
weeks for routine service and 2-3 weeks for expedited service, which costs an
additional $60.
The change marked the third time that
passport processing times were reduced in 2023, after the State Department said
in November that processing
times were down to 7-10 weeks for standard and 3-5 weeks for expedited.
In response to the new legislation, U.S. Travel Association
Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes
released the following statement:
“U.S. Travel applauds Congress for directing funding to
address excessive visitor visa interview wait times, which currently average
400 days in top source markets. The State Department must now deploy these
resources as quickly as possible to lower wait times and facilitate growth in
inbound visitation.”
“Further, U.S. Travel urges Congress to consider other
critical measures like the Visa Processing Improvement Act (S.2632) to
modernize the entire visa process, particularly as the U.S. prepares for a
decade of major international events.”
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