WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Peter Meijer (R-MI) and Darren Soto (D-FL) today led a bipartisan letter to Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken underscoring the critical need for the agency to take all steps to restore visa processing operations, reduce the backlog of appointments, and lower visa wait times.
Rep. Meijer released the following statement:
“Businesses across Michigan continue to experience workforce shortages, and our needlessly lowered visa processing operations are exacerbating this problem. I am glad to join this effort urging the State Department to expedite processing for H-2B and J1 visas by clearing the appointment backlog and lowering visa wait times. Our country’s already-struggling economy depends on international visitors and temporary workers, and I hope to see this issue resolved in a timely manner.”
Excerpt from the letter:
“Limited visa processing capacity and extended wait-times are a legacy of measures taken in the early days of the pandemic that are no longer appropriate or necessary as testing and vaccines become more widely available. Furthermore, they disrupt the reopening of American businesses. According to the U.S. Travel Association, international visitor spending in the U.S. dropped by 76% in 2020, leading to the loss of $141 billion and 1.1 million American jobs. As international and domestic travel begin to recover, many travel businesses rely on H-2B and J1 visas to meet short-term and seasonal workforce demands that cannot otherwise be filled. With such a significant portion of U.S. visa processing sites fully or partially closed, travel businesses will not have the international visitors or the temporary workers they need to generate a speedy and robust recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Tori Barnes, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy, U.S. Travel Association, released the following statement:
“Swift and efficient visa processing is critical to restoring the United States as a top destination for global travelers. With 60% of U.S. embassies and consulates partially or completely closed for visa processing — and average appointment wait times climbing to more than a year in some locations — a commitment to restoring visa operations and reducing the appointment backlog is necessary to ensure the U.S. inbound travel market will recover more quickly to pre-pandemic levels. We applaud the letters’ co-signers for their leadership on this issue and respectfully urge the State Department to fully resume visa processing operations worldwide, which will help sustain an even recovery across all sectors of travel.”
Original source can be found here.
