The average wait time for a U.S. visa interview needed by travellers from the top 10 inbound visa-requiring countries is more than 400 days, or over a year, a leading U.S. travel industry group said today.
It is now 400 days said U.S. Travel Association President Geoff Freeman.
“Wait times are still excessively high despite marked improvements in countries like India.
”Much needs to be done to bring US visa interview wait times down.”
The situation for Indians has slightly improved by introducing Saturday interviews and staffing shortages for visa staff are likely to be filled by this summer.
Other top-10 markets that have experienced “staggering” waits — including Brazil and Mexico — are also improving, the association said in a statement.
However, it will likely hinder the tourism recovery, possibly throughout 2023.
The top source markets in 2022 were Canada, Mexico and the UK.