- Applying for tourist visas can be expensive and confusing.
- The process may deter some travelers from visiting the US
- Visa policies try to balance economic and national security priorities.
It can be difficult for international visitors to obtain permission to come to the US
Onyi Apakama knows this firsthand. He is a first-generation American born to two Nigerian immigrants, and most of his family still lives overseas.
A complicated and expensive tourist visa application process means that relatives miss important milestones here in the USA with family
“It was definitely a sad thing because she was my (cousin’s) little sister,” Apakama said. Said. “She couldn’t attend her brother’s wedding.”
For Americans, it can be easy to forget how complicated international travel can be, depending on your passport.
US passport holders can: Access to 186 international destinations According to the Henley Passport Index, we hardly need to go through the hassle and expense of filling out extra paperwork or going to a country’s embassy to prove ourselves before we travel, without applying for a visa in advance.
However, many visitors to the US face a much more challenging process.
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According to Esra Calvert, about 40% of international visitors to the US need to apply for a visa to enter. Calvert is the director of Esra Calvert Consulting, which focuses on data in the tourism industry.
“You have paperwork to do online and you’re waiting for your appointment time,” he told USA TODAY. “When it’s time for your appointment, you go to the embassy for an interview. You need to show very basic information to prove your finances, what your plans are, just going on vacation or a business meeting.”
In Nigeria, it may also be more difficult to get a visa appointment if your family isn’t well-connected politically, Apakama said.
These extra barriers sometimes deter people from applying for visas – not counting those whose applications are rejected. This means that the US is potentially missing out on a large number of tourist dollars to be generated each year.
By Ministry of CommerceTourism generated $1.9 trillion in economic output in 2019.
“There are so many options for passengers,” Calvert said. “If a traveler has to wait a year for a visa interview” they will go elsewhere. for holiday.
Raoul Bianchi, a political economy major in Manchester Metropolitan University’s Department of Economic Policy and International Business, said tourist visa applications disproportionately make it harder for people from the developing world to travel.
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“The global north/global south division is very rough,” he said in an interview. “There is tremendous disparity between richly Westernized countries and Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America, and South Asia.”
The process can be so vague that experts suggest many visa applicants fear that revealing their experiences to the press may hinder their ability to obtain approval.
How much does a tourist visa cost to visit the USA?
According to the State Department, it costs $160 per person to apply for a tourist visa. They can be valid for up to 10 years, depending on the applicant’s nationality.
Fares are becoming more prohibitive for some travelers as inflation rises.
“The cost has gone up. And now with inflation (and) the exchange rate, the Nigerian naira has gotten much weaker in the last year or six months,” Apakama said. Said.
It was around 350 naira per dollar when he visited Nigeria in 2019 or 2020. It’s now closer to 430 naira to the dollar, meaning relatives could pay tens of thousands of naira for a visa-only visit for an entire family unit.
The State Department said in a statement that even if the application is rejected, these fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
A spokesperson said, “The ministry’s consular operations are largely funded by service fees. Visa fees charged are generally based on the cost of the visa services delivery department and are determined by periodic research into the cost of consular services, including visa services.” aforementioned. “This means that it does not bring any profit to the US government from collecting the fees. Instead, the fee applies to reimbursement for the US government’s cost of providing the service.”
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Who needs a tourist visa to come to the USA?
Visa requirements can change over time and have become more stringent in recent years, especially for visitors to the US.
“On average two-thirds of the world’s people have to obtain a visa before they depart. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the recent terrorist attacks around the world have changed the discourse on immigration and international tourism in Europe and North America,” says University of Otago’s New Zealand. Pooneh Torabian, a lecturer in the Department of Tourism at the business school in . “Since 9/11, international travel has become more regulated in the name of safety and security, and international movement for ethnic minority nationals, particularly Arab and Muslim travelers, has been blocked.”
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Bianchi agreed and pointed out that visa policies often reflect a country’s broader geopolitical stance.
For example, shortly after President Donald Trump took office, his administration imposed a ban on visitors from many Muslim-majority countries, a reflection of the president’s immigration priorities. But advocates have argued that even since President Joe Biden reversed that policy. little has changed in a practical sense.
“Often, visa policies can be a reflection of bilateral diplomatic relations or a proxy for something else going on,” Bianchi said. Said.
The story continues below.
Apakama said the restrictions for visa applicants can feel like a high level of discrimination.
“Who are the people we believe will contribute to society as a country, and who are not,” he said.
Many applicants also feel that there is a human arbitrariness in the process.
“My family members believe that he was the one who interviewed you that day and it was just their mood,” Apakama said. When the visa interviewer seemed grumpy, his family felt that their application was more scrutinized and more likely to be rejected.
The USA has visa exemption agreements with 40 countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and many European countries. Canadian citizens are also generally not required to apply for a tourist visa to visit US Travelers using passports from non-US countries. waiver you usually do not need to apply for a tourist visa before coming here.
Even if a visitor has a visa, border guards have the power to turn them away at passport control. Apakama said he had relatives who were denied entry after landing in the US and flew back to Nigeria.
How long does it take to get a US tourist visa?
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, US embassies and consulates have struggled to keep up with visa applications, and in some places the waiting time for appointments is now more than a year.
“It’s discouraging visitors,” Calvert said. “All the hassle travelers have to go through in the visa application process in this day and age, there may be some opportunities to reduce visa backlogs.”
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wait time calculator The ministry estimates that the consulate in Mumbai has set tourist visa appointments 848 days later, although it says the excessive waiting is unconstitutional.
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A spokesperson said, “We are reducing appointment wait times as quickly as possible across all visa classes worldwide. In fact, visa processing is recovering faster than anticipated after a nearly complete shutdown and freeze of resources during the pandemic.” “Half of our overseas assignments have a waiting time of less than four months for a routine visa appointment, and much shorter than that for some assignments.”
Will getting a US visa ever be this easy?
Bianchi of Manchester Metropolitan University said visa policies are in constant flux.
“There are tensions and conflicts within governments. They don’t work in one piece,” he said. “You’re going to get the tourism industry in alliance with the tourism ministries, but the interior ministries or, in your case, the Department of Homeland Security will be very intertwined. They are in favor of tightening visas because their concern is security.”
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This push and pull means that making visas more accessible is often a slow and controversial process. Meanwhile, Calvert said the US will continue to miss out on potential tourist dollars.
“I’m concerned about price and these visa regulations as a barrier,” he said. “Travel shouldn’t be this hard. How do we keep the world open?”
