Waiting for a tourist visa for the US exceeds 11 months in SP

Since resuming services for issuing visas in November 2021, the US Consulate General in São Paulo has seen pent-up demand for the document explode.

Without responding during the 20 months in which the US land and air borders were closed to prevent the advance of the pandemic, and adding to the analysis of the dammed requests, the consulate in the capital of São Paulo has already reached the mark of 354 days of waiting for an interview with seen in the last month.

The tourist visa, B1/B2, is the most requested by Brazilians, accounting for 92% of all entry requests made to the US government.

Data from the US Department of State shows the increase in demand since the end of restrictions on travelers: in February, 63,000 B1/B2 visas were issued, 35% more than the 47,000 in January. In December, approvals stood at 43,000, well above the 24,000 in the previous month.

According to AG Immigration’s immigration attorney, Felipe Alexandre, the waiting time for an interview at US diplomatic representations in other Brazilian capitals is shorter than in São Paulo, but still high compared to pre-pandemic periods.

“At the end of April, it was about 269 days in Porto Alegre, 238 days in Brasília, 227 days in Rio de Janeiro and 179 days in Recife”, says Alexandre.

The waiting time for an appointment, however, should not be seen as a reason to postpone plans for a trip to the country, according to the consulate, as it varies constantly. The recommendation is to plan the trip in advance and monitor the visa processing.

“It depends on some variables, such as, for example, the demand and service capacity of each consular post, the type of visa requested and the availability of schedules that are created regularly”, says the agency.

Alexandre also says that leaving it for later can increase the wait for the visa even more. “There is an effort by consular officers to meet the growing demand. Professionals are being hired to increase the number of appointments”, he says.

The São Paulo Consulate says it is “working diligently to increase the availability of consultations for all visa classes”.

“New appointment schedules for interviews have been made available on the online system, and people who have already made their appointments can continue to access the online system regularly to try to reschedule their interviews for closer dates, without any kind of extra charge”, says the Consulate.

Available dates can be checked at: https://br.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/.

The US Embassy and Consulates further state that the validity of visa fee or MRV fee payments has been extended.

“The deadline will be September 30, 2023, to allow all applicants who have not been able to schedule a visa interview due to the suspension of routine consular operations the opportunity to schedule and/or attend a visa interview with the fee already paid”, says the American agency.

In the first quarter of this year, Brazil became the fourth country that most visited the US, behind only Mexico, the United Kingdom and Canada. In March alone, there were almost 79,000 visitors, according to the US government department.​

For those who need to obtain a passport, it is also necessary to schedule an appointment at a Federal Police post, which has also required doses of patience.

According to the Superintendence of the Federal Police of São Paulo, the system is not keeping up with the high demand and program to make appointments available within 90 days.

The “jump of the cat” in this case, guides the PF of São Paulo, is to try the “passport xepa”, that is, access the website to schedule in the late afternoon, when there are greater chances of withdrawals and eventual vacancies can be opened .