Senators Schatz and Klobuchar Call on State Department to Use GAO Findings to Streamline Visa Processing

Statement

Today, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai"i) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), members of the Senate Commerce Committee and Co-Chairs of the Senate Tourism Caucus, wrote to the State Department to follow up on a recently released report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that evaluated the State Department's capacity to meet the expected increase in demand for travel visas. The report, which was requested by Senators Schatz and Klobuchar, found that while the State Department has taken a number of steps to meet the current visa demand, more needs to be done to ensure that the department can meet the rising demand for visas.

In their letter to the State Department, the Senators wrote, "In its recent report, GAO recognized State's efforts--such as dedicating more personnel to consular services and opening additional consulates--to increase NIV processing capacity and shorten applicant interview wait periods. However, GAO raised concerns about State's ability to meet the visa demand in the long-term given hiring constraints and that the NIV demand is expected to increase 45 percent by 2019. It is clear that State should conduct a comprehensive assessment of its efforts and develop a strategy on how it plans to meet the rising visa demand. Should State fail to take the necessary actions, our country could revert to pre-2012 excessive visa processing delays, which would have a costly impact on the U.S. travel and tourism industry and our overall economy."

The GAO's key findings:

Visa demand has historically impacted State's ability to efficiently process visas. State projects that the number of nonimmigrant visa applicants will rise worldwide from 12.4 million in FY 2014 to 18 million in FY 2019, a 45% increase. In addition, East Asia and Pacific region will increase by 98% and the South and Central Asia region will increase by 91%.
While State Department has taken a number of steps to reduce interview wait times, it has not evaluated the impact of its efforts. Without this, State does not know how to best to direct resources to those activities that offer the greatest likelihood of success.
State Department acknowledges that long interview wait times for tourist visas may discourage travel to the United States, potentially costing the country billions of dollars in economic benefits over time and adversely influencing foreigners' opinions of our nation.

Source