Visa Waiver Program/ Visa Application Process

The Issue:  The Visa Waiver Program (VWP), managed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in consultation with the State Department, currently permits residents of 36 countries to visit the U.S for up to 90-days without a visa.  U.S. nationals have reciprocal rights with participating countries.  To participate, countries must meet strict security standards, including the issuance of machine-readable passports with biometrics and participation in security-related data sharing agreements. Over 100 million VWP leisure and business travelers have visited the U.S. in the past six years.  In 2011, more than 17 million visitors traveled to the U.S. under the program, representing 44 percent of all foreign visitors.

The VWP is a huge success and strongly supported by the business travel industry. It enables jobs creation at home and abroad, stimulates the economy and improves international relations.  In 2011, global business travel spending reached $1 trillion -- $250 billion in the U.S. alone.  In today’s highly competitive economy, accessible, safe and secure business travel is essential.  The VWP facilitates this travel in every way, opening the U.S. to millions of business travelers to attend meetings, conventions and exhibits….generating sales and business opportunities around the globe.

In addition to adding qualified VWP nations, improvements to the visa application process in non visa waiver nations are critical - from reducing wait times to simplifying the interview process to adding additional consular.  This increases travel to the U.S. and all the related benefits to the business travel industry. For example, in 2011, increased consular office staffing in China decreased the average wait time for a visa interview appointment to less than one week.  With 800,000 Chinese visitors to the U.S. in 2010, that number is expected to grow significantly as the application process improves.  Similar process/staffing improvements are underway in Brazil, where officials processed over 800,000 visa applications in fiscal year 2011, and in India. 

GBTA Position:  GBTA fully supports the expansion of the VWP and improvements to the visa application process, including the detailed proposals in the Executive Order (January 19, 2012) promoting travel and tourism to/within the U.S.  GBTA also welcomes the development of a National Strategy on Travel and Tourism, including recognition of the tremendous role of business travel in growing the nation’s economy and creating jobs. Specifically, GBTA supports The Visa Waiver Program Enhanced Security and Reform Act (H.R. 3855 and S.2046) that expands and strengthens the VWP program by replacing the current criteria of VISA refusal rates with a requirement that applicant countries set at less than three percent of foreign nationals who remain in the United States after their visa expires, as well as a three percent refusal rate, or applicants denied travel at U.S. consular offices abroad.  Should a country meet the criteria, the Secretary of DHS may then waive the refusal rate criteria from three to ten percent on a country-by-country basis..  This change in criteria is consistent with VWP security goals and may permit greater participation.  GBTA also supports more efficiencies in the visa application process. Finally, GBTA welcomes the continued support for these programs in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request, but urges sufficient funding for staffing and technology to avoid program slowdown.  Overall, the visa reforms in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 were meaningful steps in the right direction.

Relevant Links:
U.S. Department of State, Visa Waiver Program

GBTA Legislative Action Center
Ask your Representative and Senators to Co-Sponsor the Visa Waiver Program Enhanced Security and Reform Act