PAPERLESS VISA: U.S. Announces 2024 Visa Improvements
Oyiza Adaba, New York
Julie Stufft, DAS for Visa Services, Consular Affairs, discusses updates in visa processing worldwide. This briefing is in-person and on-the-record. Nov. 28, 2023. Photo by State Dept./FPC/Sherry L Brukbacher.
UPDATE
NOVEMBER 28, 2023
Update on U.S. Visa Processing Worldwide by Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, Consular Affairs, discusses updates in visa processing worldwide.
U.S Visas Worldwide Issue
2019 Pre-pandemic processing - 8.5 million U.S. visas issued
2023 Fiscal Year - 10.5 million U.S. visas issued
The press briefing gave updates on the U.S. visa processing at overseas posts for the 2023 Fiscal Year, ending in October. The 10.5 million visas issued at overseas missions is said to have almost hit the highest level ever done in any year.
According to Stufft, “More people who are seeking to visit the United States today can visit the United States immediately than ever before in the past; that is, there are more people who hold U.S. visas that are valid or can travel without visa status to the U.S. tomorrow if they board a flight than at any time in our history.”
The department is still working on reducing wait time, at a '“handful” of countries that still have very high wait times, some exceeding a year still for one category of visa - first-time visitors. All other categories are said to have reduced long wait times globally.
US Visa Wait Time
2022 - 200 Days
2023 - Close to 140 Days
2024 will introduce the option of domestic renewal of visas to applicants starting with a pilot run in January. This means that people who are living and working in the United States on a long-term work visa do not have to leave the United States to apply for their next visa or to renew their visa. They would be able to send their applications to Washington and have it renewed without leaving the country.
This state-side option which was discontinued after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will start with small with a pilot of 20,000 visas to be issued between December and February, with more categories of workers living in the United States in the rest of 2024.
Visa interviews specifically for prior travelers are out and Paperless visas are in. This means that the visa application process is the same, but there is a – there’s no physical visa in someone’s passport. These changes may take up to 18 months to have widespread use.
Readers are invited to share their U.S. experience with a comment below.