American Airlines CEO Robert Isom is right – the U.S. visitor visa system is embarrassing, and it’s costing our economy. But more than that, it hurts our soft power and importance on the world stage.
During the carrier’s third quarter earnings call on Thursday, Isom chimed in – clearly planning to use the opportunity when the business journalism world was listening – to emphasize the need to fix the problem of hundreds of days-long wait times for visitors to receive a visa to come to the United States.
In 2019, 43% of international visitation into the U.S. came from countries where you had to have a visa to come into the United States. ..[P]eople who wanted to come in for a first-time visa to attend a big event or a convention, you maybe had to go and spend a few weeks to get a visa…now that process of getting a visa can be over a year, well over a year, in really important big travel markets and countries like Brazil, Mexico and India.
When I talk about 43% of inbound travel, of international visitation, it’s not like we’re limiting ourselves just in airfares and ticket prices..those people spent $120 billion when they came into the United States. The country as a whole is harmed.
Indeed, wait times reached over 800 days for those applying in Mumbai and Delhi – and even closer places like Guadalajara, Mexico and Bogota, Colombia.
Current wait times at embassies for a visitor visa to the US:
857 days — Bogota
850 days — Abuja
848 days — Mumbai
833 days — New Delhi
800 days — Guadalajara
780 days — Chennai
771 days — Panama City
767 days — Kolkata
737 days — Lagos
731 days — Kinshasha
722 days — Nogales https://t.co/fynriNLJzk— Alec Stapp (@AlecStapp) September 28, 2022
On average visa wait times were reported last month to be an average of 247 days – a 14x increase over the 17 day average before the pandemic. It’s expected that visa wait times will cost the U.S. 6.6 million visitors in 2023.
This is a huge failure of federal government competence. And for the airline industry it compounds failures of air traffic control (airspace capacity should be increased by making capital investment outside the annual congressional appropriations cycle like Canada does), and of continued Covid requirements for non-residents to enter the country even as the President declares that the pandemic is over.
So far this government is for open border to allow illegal entry and ban those who want to come in a legal way.
Another massive FAILURE by the Biden Regime.
My wife is Ecuadorian and now on her way to U.S Citizenship (yay!). Her opinion is stronger than mine on immigration…..basically Biden and the Dems are allowing Illegal immigration to flourish at the expense of LEGAL immigration…..wait times are just beyond ridiculous and USCIS and Embassies are grossly understaffed! FAILURE
Time to drop the useless vax requirement too. Nothing but shameless pimping for big pharma.
This is an effect of Trump’s policy – not biden – he’s clearly not fixing it – but we can’t even attract brilliant candidates to work here because of the visa issue
#ThanksTRUMP
They just need to buy a ticket to Nogales and then walk over the bridge. they will be greeted by a Biden administration staffer with a voter registration card and a check.
This is appalling. I think of the longest waits I’ve had for visas — China, Myanmar, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia — and none has been much longer than a week. Even 17 days is excessive. Usually I’ve had to put my flight or other entry information on my visa applications; I guess that would be impossible for a visitor to the USA.
I am not a fan of the current US administration but this wait for visas started way before it came to power. I have friends who applied for a work visa to the United States from South Africa in 2019. The US Embassy is in Pretoria but there are consulates in Johannesburg, Durban and I think, Capetown. He was screwed out of 20+ years of retirement funds by South African Airways and the corrupt government of Ramphosa. Her company was trying to move them to their US home offices. My friends would make an online appointment (the only way) with the consulate only to be turned away AT THE DOOR STEP… FIVE TIMES over a period of two years! Physically.. AT THE DOOR. COVID was the excuse…lazy is what I’ve heard from a friend who is a US Ambassador (retired). Most of the staff are locals who have no need to speed up the processes because they get paid whether anyone comes IN the door or not. In February 2022, my friends finally made it IN THE DOOR and within a week had their visa. They successfully immigrated to the US and she’s working for her company’s home office. He’s been struggling to get a flying job because the airlines require an unlimited work visa (which he has) but what they want is the coveted “green card”. That’s NOT what the airlines say in their requirements…”unrestricted work visa”…NOT “green card”. At least they are out of crooked South Africa.
This backlog started to jump up big time under the Trump Admin.
The Biden Admin is afraid of being “weak” on border “security” and thus sticks to wanting the overwhelming majority of visa applicants to have to go through a biometric capture and in-person review process along with other checks that slow down things and get in the way of keeping up with demand.
Being “tough” on “border” and “security” comes with worse timeframes for travelers and prospective travelers. And since this involves government, the “solution” is a lot more money without a lot more efficiency — even if contracted out in part.
Just like both US political parties are afraid to come across as “weak on crime”, they are also afraid to come across as “weak on border security” and so they all stick to the “security” dog and pony show no matter how it inconveniences people and no matter how little bang for the buck it provides.
Agreed about the Visa wait times. BUT…not on ATC.
ATC is funded by taxes set into law that flow through.a trust fund. This has zero to do with ATC. That’s more carrier propaganda pushed by NATA.
It’s the most hilarious piece of one-side propaganda, masking as information, reaching the deeps of WaPo and NYT. So, let’s take the longest wait times at embassies and scream “incompetence”. Why not take the shortest times, see where is that and , most important, try to understand why is that? What is the visa wait time in London? Tokyo? Riyadh? Warsaw? (They still need visas, I think) Why Ukrainians can get here on parole without visas, while Africans cannot even get an interview? What such countries like China, India and the Philippines have in common from US immigration perspective which they do not share with other countries? What is the difference between refugee and asylee?
People who know zilch about internal immigration system workings and why they are what they are try to make far-fetched conclusions about it. It’s like somebody who doesn’t know the difference between regional jet and wide body tries to plan flight schedules.
Being myself an immigrant and somebody who came through the system since my 1st visit in 2004 and emerged alive (and mostly intact) on the other end as a naturalized citizen in 2017, I’m far from thinking it’s ideal or that it doesn’t need fixing. At the same time, it’s way better than the one they have in EU, UK or Japan, both for immigration and especially visitors.
Excuse me, how does it hurt our economy? Everyone in the developed world does not need a visa to visit the US. This only applies for select third world countries who certainly do not contribute to tourism in any significant way. Instead , these are mostly folks who get a visa to enter the US and overstay indefinitely.
These countries should apply for VWP but they don’t want to.
Their people should blame their government, not US government!
@tjk
@creditian
your ignorance is astounding
take brasil and mexico, 2 of the largest visitor markjets to the usa, they spend BILLIONS in travel and, no, they do not stay
those who stay cross the border illegally, those who get a visa come for tourism
the economy of orlando is dependent on visitors, and both brasil and mexico are top markets
the us government will never give them visa waiver
you stupid repubs
first, people here are confusing visitor and work or permanent worker visas – and there is a MAJOR difference not just between the classes but also between the Trump and Biden administrations are handling both.
second, the US has TOURISM/VISITOR visa waiver programs with most “first world” countries with similar standards of living but major countries on AA’s network do have visa requirements for tourists/visitors from those countries to the US including most of Latin America and other countries.
AA is absolutely justified to criticize the speed to process TOURISM/VISITOR applications from countries that provide significant tourism or visitor visas to the US which include much of Latin America and other “developing world” countries.
third, the US has one of the slowest and most antiquated systems and quotas for middle to high income workers and those marrying US citizens to move through the process. fixing that process is dependent on Congess which can’t agree about anything.
Conflating multiple immigration issues won’t solve them or even add understanding to debating them.
People follow immigration rules tend to be rational voters aka Republican. Democrats want the illegal replacement voters.
People follow immigration rules tend to be rational voters aka Republican. Democrats want the illegal replacement voters.
It is certainly a disgrace. There are so many things on which our government – regardless of who is President – is breathtakingly incompetent – and this is one.
Gary, I’d be interested in the specific measures you’d like to see taken to correct this.
Didn’t take long for the maga zombies to spew their racist, fascist and hurtful comments. Which is it?
You complain about these supposed “open borders” and want them closed but you want the “visa borders” wide open!!???
You can’t have both…..
@JorgeGeorge Paez
Ok snowflake
Only way you pedophiles can win is stealing or flooding the country with illegals. The poor and the stupid vote for people you support.
This is just like the CBP and the IRS the Trump administration cut the budget so much and then stopped hiring people. Then Covid hit and the orange man closed almost all the CBP offices the irs closed for 3 months (dumb idea). Us gove employees retired and died from covid leaving a shortage So do not blame Biden but trump and his cabinet
Funny Pfizer said today they will be charging 130 for a covid shot in 2023 as government funds has ran out! Crazy no one is paying for that. Less if you have insurance but still no one will be getting it when it was free why you think they will pay now for it!
@doug. I am a Democrat but I like law and order. The majority of illegal immigrants are people who overstay their visa. Look it up.
You clearly aren’t an American, so complain to your own government, not the rules of a foreign to you country.
@tjk
I am an american, not sure why you thought otherwise…
And no, you are incorrect, if you think that millions of mexicans, brazilians, argentineans, and more…are the ones overstaying, and even if that were true, how will delaying this another year help?
I am in the tourism industry and you have no idea the damage this visa circus is doing on the economy
I ilke law and order also, what does it have to do with efficiency? so making someone wait a year for a visa is “law and order”?
@doug Because you wrote Brasil. Americans spell it “Brazil”. Most of the locations with a long wait time are questionable third world countries at best. There is no right to entering another country, only a desire. I agree in some cases it’s problematic. But I maintain that most of the countries on that list are not coming for tourist purposes. The typical tourist in the US spending money comes from Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea or China. All those Indian visas are for the parents, grand parents, cousins and uncles of the other Indians who got a visa or green card to come to the US. They all come, here to stay forever
Anyway, why should the US government please Isom or Parker.
In my experience, the vast majority if US tourists you encounter in national parks, big cities are Europeans (and Chinese but no longer). Same in Europe – majority of non-European tourists are Americans (since Chinese are locked out). Countries in Africa or South America have some rich people but they simply lack the middle class that can afford to travel to the Western World and spend $$$.
@tjk
you are quite an ignorant jewel aren’t you?
here, educate yourself
https://floridareview.co.uk/useful-resources/florida-tourism-numbers
@doug Read up on it. I actually welcome the long tourist visa wait times. Brazil, or Brasil is at the top of the list.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/us/undocumented-visa-overstays.html
and from NPR
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/686056668/for-seventh-consecutive-year-visa-overstays-exceeded-illegal-border-crossings
Oh all the billions lost not having all this illegal immigration!!!!
@tjk
so you think that making someone who intends to overstay their visa wait another 6 months will derail their plans?
obviously it will not have any effect, but it will make millions visit other destiunations
I doubt that you understand or care about the impact on the economy and the hospitality industry
as a typical american white trash I doubt you even know where brasil is
I am an American living in Tbilisi and married to a Georgian citizen. I am a permanent resident here now and we are happy living here. But we would like to visit this US and my wife would like to meet her mother in law before it’s too late. We do not need a green card and we have no intention of overstaying, a tourist visa would be fine. But the wait is two years.
This began with covid under Trump and persists under Biden, I don’t blame either. The state department was quick to “work from home” and is not anxious to return enough to catch up. They cancelled appointments in April due to covid, which nobody else here was worrying about at all.
We could go to Mexico and walk across the river but of course we would never do that. It’s a lot of trouble and all we want to do is visit. If we did do that I suspect I’d be the one in more trouble as a citizen than my wife would be as an illegal immigrant.