Queue to obtain American visa drops by half in Brazil – 07/04/2023 – World

The waiting time to schedule the interview for the first issue of the American tourist or business visa has dropped by half in Brazilian capitals. In São Paulo, the queue was 251 days this Tuesday (4), according to the US State Department. The figure is well below the 630 days recorded in June.

There was also a decrease in other Brazilian cities that issue visas. In Recife, the wait was 296 days this Tuesday. In Porto Alegre, the queue was 273 days; in Brasília, of 154 days. Rio de Janeiro had the shortest waiting time for the first issue: 126 days. Last month, queues in the capitals were, respectively, 468, 430, 303 and 471 days.

In a note, the US embassy and consulates in Brazil say that the US government has been taking measures to meet a record demand for visas after the pandemic.

“We recently made more than 200,000 visa appointments available, which resulted in a substantial reduction in waiting times for people applying for a tourist visa for the first time”, reads an excerpt from the statement, adding that consular teams expect to process more than 1.2 million visas this year, in what would be the “biggest demand ever”.

With demand on the rise, the price of issuing an American visa has been readjusted in Brazil. The rate, which was US$ 160 (R$ 768), became US$ 185 (R$ 888) on June 17, an increase of R$ 120, according to current exchange rates.

This is the shortest time in São Paulo for issuing the American tourist and business visa registered this year, according to a survey by the AG Immigration law firm, specialized in immigration issues and which monitors the queue for the document.

“The measures taken by the US embassy in Brazil, which since last year has been hiring more consular officers to expand its service capacity, have started to have effects”, says lawyer Felipe Alexandre, founding partner of the firm. According to him, queues have a negative impact on destinations like Florida, which has Brazil as one of the three countries that most send travelers.

For those who need to renew their American visa, the numbers are smaller: in São Paulo, the wait is 21 days; Recife, 8 days; Porto Alegre, 3 days; Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, 1 day.

You can check waiting times for various types of visas at different US consulates in the country on the Department of State website.

Scheduling time began to increase as a direct effect of the pandemic, which impacted the functioning of diplomatic missions. In the period of more severe restrictions, the US stopped issuing non-emergency entry permits to foreigners.

The American consulate claims that these numbers are dynamic and that many tourists manage to advance the date of the interviews, at no additional cost, due to cancellations by other applicants and the opening of new opening hours. In addition, it is possible to request an anticipation of the interview in emergency cases, such as the death of immediate relatives and medical treatment.

The historic maximum in São Paulo was recorded in the week from the 5th to the 9th of this month, when the waiting time reached 630 days, according to the AG Immigration survey.