Speed up visa application Chinese tourists can get visas in as fast as two days

Speed up visa applications Chinese tourists can get visas in as fast as two days For tourists from China and Brazil, the days of waiting for U.S. visas may be over. The United States...

Speeding up visa applications: Chinese tourists can get visas in as fast as two days For tourists from China and Brazil, the wait for a U.S. visa may be over. Donahue, deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, said visa processing times have improved significantly after adding staff and reallocating resources to key locations. Now, Chinese tourists can get visas in as little as two days, while Brazilians may only have to wait a week. Due to the significant growth in tourism in these countries, visa processing must be expedited. Donahue said that visa application approval is mainly for security reasons. In order to ensure that people will not abuse their visas (for example, overstay), or enter the United States to attempt crimes or carry out terrorist attacks, the consulate therefore comprehensively interviews, growth experience, biometrics and other information on each applicant to determine that they will not pose a threat to the United States. Travelers from 36 countries can enter the United States without a visa. Some of these countries may be taken for granted, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, etc. However, it may surprise many people that Brunei and Singapore also do not require a visa to enter the United States. These visa-exempt countries qualify because their visa rejection rates are typically less than 3% and they share information with the United States. Foreign tourists are one of the gold mines of the U.S. economy. U.S. international tourism revenue reached a record high of $153 billion last year, accounting for about 1% of GDP. However, despite this good result, it is not clear whether the U.S. tourism industry has truly recovered from the devastation caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, so there is still much that can be done to further boost the tourism industry. Visitors from 36 visa-free countries account for 65% of U.S. tourists. However, major Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and Chile are not on the list. China, with a population of 1.2 billion, has only five visa offices. In Harbin, which is about the same size as Philadelphia, it takes nearly 8 hours to drive to the nearest visa interview point.