Canada Bound: Visa Requirements for American Travelers

 Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department of State stopped providing normal visa services around the world in March 2020. "US embassies and consulates are beginning the phased resumption of routine visa services," @TravelGov posted on July 13, 2020. This was a message from DOS. The times for each embassy or consulate will depend on what's going on in that area. We're not able to give specifics for each site. Please check the website of the embassy or consulate for any changes. For an update on DOS's work, read the October 21, 2022 Update on Worldwide Visa Operations, which is typed out below. "News on Visa Operations Around the World" Visa operations around the world are getting back to normal faster than expected after the COVID-19 pandemic. After closing during the pandemic, the Department of State is successfully lowering the wait times for visa interviews around the world.  We've hired twice as many U.S. Foreign Service officers to do this important job, we're getting better faster than expected, and this year we'll be back to the level of processing we had before the pandemic. How We Got to This Point with Backlogs and Wait Times Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department had to drastically cut the number of visas it could process in two major ways.  First, there were limits on who could visit the US and where they could go, including our foreign consular waiting rooms. This made it harder for us to meet with visa applicants.  Because most candidates have to show up in person because of U.S. law, these limits meant that the Department could only process a certain number of visa applications at a time. Second, the Department had to leave more than 300 foreign consular officer positions open in 2020 and 2021 because the application fees that pay for visa processing were cut almost in half.  This further cut down on the number of visa requests we could handle.  

Where We Are Now

We are back in business all over the world now that COVID-19 limits have been lifted.  94% of our offices and consulates are once again interviewing people who want to get a visa. We are processing nonimmigrant visa applications at a rate 94% higher than the monthly averages before the pandemic and immigrant visa applications at a rate 130% higher.  We made 8 million non-immigrant visas in the past year, from September 30, 2021, to September 30, 2022. This was a lot more than our best-case predictions.  We are well on our way to meeting and exceeding the ability to process visas that we had before the pandemic. Interview Waivers have made things run more smoothly. During the pandemic, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security worked together to waive in-person interviews for many key visa categories, such as students and temporary workers who were essential to supply lines.  Also, people who want to renew a nonimmigrant visa in the same category within 48 months of the expiration of their previous visa can now apply without having to go to an interview in person in their home country or country of birth.  This has already cut down on the time people have to wait for interviews at many consulates and offices.  We think that about 30% of people applying for nonimmigrant visas around the world may be able to skip the interview. This would free up in-person interview times for people who still need them. Building on What Worked Our focused efforts during the recovery time from the pandemic have made it easier for people to travel to the United States.  Here are a few things we've done well in the past year: 

We cut down on the backlog of immigrant visa (IV) 

applications and brought families back together. Since July 2021, when it was at its worst, our consular sections around the world have cut the total backlog of IV interview appointments by 25%, or nearly 135,000 applicants.  Our embassies in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras got rid of a backlog of 22,000 applicants for the IV. At the same time, our consulate in Ciudad Juarez cut the delay for Mexican applicants by almost 44%. When it came to student and academic exchange guest visas, we broke records.  Nearly 180,000 F, M, and academic J visas were handled by consular sections around the world in July 2022, more than in any other month since 2016. More than 395 000 H-2 visas were issued in fiscal year 2022, which is more than the number of visas issued before the pandemic. These visas were for summer agricultural and nonagricultural workers who are important to the nation's food supply chain and help ease labor shortages and inflation.   We gave out thousands of crewmember visas, which are needed to keep the global supply lines running, which are important for both the U.S. and global economies.  By the summer of 2022, the rate at which crewmember passes were issued was about the same as it was before the pandemic. In FY 2022, we gave out all of the available E-3 visas. This is the type of immigration visa that healthcare workers most want, as they are very important to the health and well-being of our communities. During the DV-2022 program year, we gave out 54,334 Diversity Visas.  That is the most DVs that have been given out in 25 years, and when that number was added to the number of domestic adjustments of status that USCIS allowed through the DV program, there were no more DVs to give out.

For People Who Have to Wait a Long Time for Interviews

Our goal is to give a visa interview to every applicant who needs one, anywhere in the world, within a fair amount of time.  We know that visa applicants still have to wait a long time at some embassies and consulates, even though our working capacity is returning faster than expected.  If you need a visa and can go to a different embassy or consulate with faster wait times, please do so.  You can apply for jobs anywhere that has openings, even if it's not in your home country.  Visit https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html for the most up-to-date wait times. To find the websites of embassies and consulates, go to https://www.usembassy.gov/. You can use the embassy links to go to the right embassy website, but you may need to click around a bit to find COVID-19 information because each embassy website is set up slightly differently. COVID-19 Surge Has an Effect on U.S. Mission Update on China visa appointments from the U.S. Mission to China for December 15, 2022 "The rise in COVID-19 infections across China has made it hard for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai to do their jobs. They are only offering passport and emergency services to citizens."  Until further notice, the U.S. Consulates General in Wuhan, Shenyang, and Guangzhou will only offer emergency diplomatic services. To find out more about emergency foreign services, please visit https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/services/.  All regular Visa Services have been briefly stopped, except for some that were supposed to happen at the Consulate General in Shanghai. All regular appointments at the Embassy in Beijing and the other Consulates General have also been canceled. News from the U.S. Mission in China for December 27, 2022 "On January 3, normal consular services will start up again at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the Consulates in Guangzhou and Shenyang, and the Consulate in Guangzhou." Consulate General Wuhan is once again offering some services to U.S. citizens. Shanghai will stay in an emergency operations state until further notice. Please keep in mind that the number of meetings for routine services will depend on how many people are being hired.