The U.S. Visa System is Broken

Why it matters:

Broken processing threatens U.S. interests.

U.S. competitiveness: The U.S. is falling behind peers and competitors.

• Attracting top students is vital to the future of U.S. technology and business. India has been the top source for international students, but has some of the worst processing delays for students.
• Wait times for visas to the UK, Australia, and other countries are 75% shorter than to the United States.

Economic growth: Billions in investment and trade will be lost if visitor visas are not easily available.

• The Department of Commerce expressed concern that “the presence or perception of delays in obtaining the necessary visas can give an international investor the impression that it may be difficult to finalize or oversee an investment in the United States. It is important to have in place the people and facilities needed to efficiently handle the demand for visas.”
• Tourists will not visit if they cannot get a timely visa. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that in 2023, the U.S. will lose nearly $12 billion in lost travel spending because of visa delays. According to the Department of Commerce, at pre-COVID levels, travel supported 1 million American jobs and a $53 billion trade surplus.

National security, foreign policy, and soft power: Visas are a growing source of frustration among allies and are becoming a national embarrassment.

• The U.S. aims to counter the influence of China, Russia, and other strategic competitors, but is undermined by the appearance of incompetence and indifference to the impact visa wait times have on allies, who have said the hassles are insulting.
• Facilitating visitors is a basic function of government, but the U.S. is failing.

What to do:

1. The State Department must immediately surge capacity to clear wait times and speed processing. The Department should expand the successes of consular posts which have made visa processing a priority and reduced wait times, such as the embassies in South Africa and Kenya. Reviving stateside processing for visa renewals would also ease burdens at foreign posts.
2. The White House must set clear targets. The Biden Administration can replicate the success of a 2012 executive order that brought down wait times. By 2015, the GAO found that the directive had reduced wait times significantly, with 80% of applicants getting appointments within three weeks.
3. Congress should ramp up pressure while providing sufficient resources. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced the Visitor Visa Wait Time Reduction Act to require a plan to reduce wait times from any consular post where wait times are over 100 days. The White House has also requested short-term funding to make up for temporary gaps from lost visa fees.
4. The State Department must modernize visa processing. Sending foreign service officers overseas for in-person vetting of paperwork no longer makes sense. The U.S. government can use digital technology, remote processing, and a dedicated visa specialist track to build a far more efficient and effective visa system.