President Obama’s goal is to make the United States the world’s top most travel and tourism destination. Increase in tourism will boost America’s economy to a greater extent.
An announcement from the US Department of State states that there has been a spectacular growth in the number of US visas granted to the applicants from Brazil and China. The processing capacity of US visitor visas in China and Brazil has increased greatly in 2012, which is likely to meet the President’s goal.
The US visa issuance in Brazil increased by 59 percent and in China, the issuance of US visas increased by 46 percent. The State Department is also making the visa processing quicker and it has reduced the wait times for the interviews for visas.
A Chinese citizen who wanted to travel to the United States had to wait for several weeks to get an appointment for the visa interview. But now, the visa applicants in China will be able to get an appointment at the US consulate, in 5 or 6 days.
Similarly, to acquire a visa to travel to the United States, a Brazilian citizen had to make an appointment at one of the four US visa processing centers in Brazil, and the applicant had to wait for several months for a visa interview appointment. Now, the applicants need not wait for more than 2 weeks in Brasília for a visa interview and the applicants from São Paulo can appear for a visa interview in less than 35 days.
President Obama is planning to increase the visa processing capacity in his continuous efforts to increase the economic growth of America. Two new US consulates will be opened in Porto Alegre and Belo Hiozonte, through which travel and trade in the United States and in Brazil will increase, resulting in economic development. Wuhan in China is also considered for the US visa issuance services.
The US Department of State has also sent a group of newly employed consular individuals to the US consulates in Brazil and China, in order to meet the increasing demand for US visas and to expand the visa sections. This initiative is getting results and the visa process is likely to be streamlined in these countries.