The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) is supporting a new campaign launched by U.S. Travel Association (USTA) to address excessive wait times to receive a visitor visa to enter the United States. The “They Wait, We Lose” campaign is bringing attention to the millions of travelers who seek to visit the U.S. but confront 400-800 day wait times to receive a visitor visa from the State Department.
U.S. Travel estimates the U.S. will lose nearly 7 million potential visitors and $12 billion in projected spending due to excessive wait times. The U.S. State Department has reportedly made progress in several visa categories, but B-1 and B-2 visitor visas remain backlogged. Earlier this month, U.S. Travel launched a new website, USVisaDelays.com, that features the voices of global travelers and U.S. businesses affected by the visitor visa wait times.
“There are no better voices to tell the personal toll of America’s de facto border closure than the people, families and American businesses directly impacted by egregious visa wait times,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman. “The Biden administration must focus on what is in its control and take immediate action to lower wait times – we simply cannot afford to give travelers any reason to avoid visiting the United States.”
In 2019, roughly 35 million international visitors and $120 billion in spending in the U.S. travel market came from countries where a visa is required to enter the U.S. Brazil, India and Mexico are three of the top inbound markets that accounted for about 63 percent of these visitors.
This article was provided to OSAP by ASAE's Power of Associations and Inroads.