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WASHINGTON — The mayors of Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and dozens of other cities are demanding the State Department speed processing of tourist visas to end a backlog they say is costing billions in lost revenue.
According to the State Department, the global average is just two months — half what it was in June. The mayors focused on the “severe backlog” in countries that send the most tourists, including a 675 day wait time in Mexico City. In many countries, first-time visitors wait more than 400 days for a visa interview.
That puts a major bite in tourism revenue, the 44 mayors told Secretary of State Antony Blinken by letter on Monday.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and Austin Mayor Kirk P. Watson joined the bipartisan group of mayors in signing the letter, which was coordinated by the U.S. Travel Association, a nonprofit group that represents the travel industry.
“Due to the lack of prioritization of visitor visa categories, cities and counties are missing out on the opportunity to compete for millions of international visitors due to U.S. visa processing delays,” mayors wrote. “Local economies lose because international business and leisure travelers spend more money on their trips to the United States than domestic travelers. And it’s a loss for people in our communities whose loved ones can’t attend important life events because they are being forced to wait close to a year or more to obtain visas.”
The State Department said that less than 10% of foreign tourists in a typical year do not need to go to a U.S. embassy or consulate to apply for a visa in the year before their travel. And most tourists travel on previously issued multiple-entry visas, or don’t need a visa at all.
Under the Visa Waiver Program, residents of 40 countries can visit for up to 90 days without a visa, including the United Kingdom and most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
As the mayors acknowledged, processing time has been cut for student visas, and visas for seasonal workers and crew members.
State Department officials said the focus now is reducing wait times for first time tourist visa applicants in very high-demand areas, especially in India and Mexico. They emphasized that average wait times globally have fallen. Embassies processed 90% of the volume seen in 2019 during fiscal year 2022.
In the letter, mayors encouraged Blinken to set clear timelines for the interview process, and reduce the wait to 21 days in the top countries for inbound travel by April, and by September for 80% of nonimmigrant visa applicants.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit nearly three years ago, foreign tourists who needed a visa accounted for about $120 billion in annual spending in the United States. The U.S. Travel Association expects that without the improvements it seeks, up to 2.6 million potential visitors will go elsewhere. The group estimated the lost spending at $5 billion last year, rising to $7 billion this year.
“We know that timely visa processing is essential to the U.S. economy and to the administration’s goal of family reunification,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a daily briefing on Monday.
Dallas tourism has been gradually returning but remains below pre-pandemic levels.
In November, a study by Visit Dallas, the city’s tourism wing, showed tourism spending had recovered to 77% of 2019 levels. The group projected that it will surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2023.
The domestic and international tourism industry’s total economic impact in Dallas is expected to exceed $10 billion this year through jobs and tax revenue.
In 2019, the last year before the pandemic hit, Dallas welcomed about 2.5 million international visitors, which represented over $1 billion in spending, according to Craig Davis, president and CEO of Visit Dallas.
“A broken tourist visa system costs our city every day, and we are grateful our mayor is advocating to improve it, bringing more visitors from around the world who want to experience all Dallas has to offer,” he said in a statement.
The mayors urged Blinken to boost staffing at consulates with a high number of applicants, and ahead of large international events — for instance, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, for which Dallas is one of the host cities.
They also suggest extending interview waivers through 2024 for nonimmigrant visa renewals, and applying waivers more broadly to renew low-risk applicants.
The State Department said it is trying to speed up the interview process by adding appointments and staff, and improving its use of technology.