The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to promote long-term stimulus by approving legislation to improve our visa policies. The Department of State has also announced a plan to improve the visa process in China and Brazil by taking steps to address the growing demand for visitor visas and reducing wait times. As a result—the full Senate and House will need to approve the Appropriations Committee bill to have it become law—progress is happening toward encouraging more international visitors, spurring more U.S. jobs and seeing substantial economic benefit.
The bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee comprises requirements and directives involving a number of important State Department activities:
• A requirement that the State Department submit a report outlining a five-year forecast of demand for nonimmigrant visas in Brazil, China and India, and a plan to meet that demand;
• Discretion allowing the State Department to carry out a secure visa videoconferencing pilot program;
• A required assessment by the State Department comparing their five-year forecast to the Commerce Department’s five-year visitor arrival projections from Brazil, China and India; and
• Steps to hire a sufficient number of consular officers, which may include limited non-career appointment officers, in China, Brazil and India to meet the Department of State’s standard of interviewing all tourist visa applicants within 30 days of the date of submitting their application.
