Immigrants looking to head to the United States are facing increasingly lengthy wait times for an interview at a consulate in their home country ahead of stricter rules from the Trump administration.
Appointment wait times for visitor and tourist visas jumped by 69 percent between January and August, per U.S. Department of State data, while student visas were up by more than 250 percent across the board.
A spokesperson for the department told Newsweek on Wednesday that the Trump administration was protecting the nation and its citizens “by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety.”
Cecilia Esterline, a senior immigration policy analyst at the Niskanen Center, told Newsweek that she believed the worst was yet to come.
“In less than two weeks we have new rules being implemented that will now require interviews to be mandatory for many more people who are seeking to renew their visas that were previously able to access a waiver, including people who were first-time applicants, but who were eligible for an age-based waiver, like children or the elderly,” Esterline said.
The slowdown in wait times reflects the wider effort by the Trump administration to tighten immigration rules and increase the vetting of those seeking entry into the U.S. Immigration advocates, attorneys and employers have all raised concerns that delays to visa issuances will have negative effects on the U.S. economy.
Visa Interview Wait Times Rise Sharply
The State Department issues regular updates for visa interview wait times across the following categories:
- B1/B2 visitor visas
- F, M, and J student and exchange visas
- H, L, O, P, Q petition-based visas
- C, D, C1/D visas for airplane crew and transit operators
While wait times for different interview categories vary widely across U.S. consulates and embassies around the world, the latest State Department data showed a general uptick in processing times.
In Accra, Ghana, student visa applicants were waiting two and a half months for an interview in January. In August, that reached 11 months. In Vancouver, Canada, wait times were a few days. Now, they are about two months after a 13-month peak in July.
For those requiring a tourist or visitor visa in Paris, France, a five-month wait has now doubled to 10 months. By contrast, visitor visa applicants in New Delhi, India, now have a much shorter wait time, at 4.5 months compared to the 14.5 months reported in January.
Esterline told Newsweek that the State Department’s tougher stance on visa adjudications was not unexpected, but that it may lead to greater consequences for the U.S. in the coming months, particularly with next year’s FIFA World Cup.
“So where the World Cup should be a big economic boost for this country, if they can’t get the visas in time to come and can’t renew them in time or can’t get them for first-time visitors in time, I think that we will actually be set to lose out on a lot of economic gain that could be ours,” Esterline said.
What Is Changing With Interview Waivers?
In July, the State Department announced that it was updating the categories eligible for interview waivers, which allows applicants to obtain or renew a visa without interviewing at a consulate. The waiver program was expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic as officials struggled to keep up with demand as travel resumed.
The new directive, applying to “all nonimmigrant visa applicants,” including those under age 14 and over 79, is set to go into effect on September 2.
There will be some exceptions to the new rules:
- Applicants classifiable under the visa symbols A-1, A-2, C-3 (except attendants, servants, or personal employees of accredited officials), G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-6, or TECRO E-1
- Applicants for diplomatic- or official-type visas
- Applicants renewing a full validity B-1, B-2, B1/B2 visa or a Border Crossing Card/Foil (for Mexican nationals) within 12 months of the prior visa’s expiration, and who were at least 18 years old at the time of the prior visa’s issuance
Esterline said this last point would likely lead to different processes for parents—who can renew visas without an interview—and their children.
“A parent could have a valid visitor visa, and they could come as a tourist themselves without having to go to a U.S. Consulate. They could even renew their tourist visa without having to visit a consulate in person,” she said.
“However, if they have a child who needs a new visa, including a few-week-old infant, that child would have to go to an interview, which is an absurd idea to think about the fact that a six-week-old would need to go to have an interview but a parent would not, but that’s the reality of it.”
Once waivers are ended, Esterline believes wait times will only increase further.
A State Department official told Newsweek that applicants should apply for their visa “well in advance” of when they planned to travel. They also emphasized that wait times were dynamic and were adjusted often as needs changed.
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