Visa wait times could be affected by budget cuts

Visa wait times could be affected by budget cutsNatives of Brazil, China and India can expect an expansion of the waiting period for them to receive US visas for visitors due to the fact that US officials have been raising concerns in the wake of spending cuts.

The sequestration, which took place on March 1st, saw all State Department budgets slashed, according to State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell, who spoke to reporters on the 27th of last month.  One India News has also reported that the massive budget cuts could be as much as $85 billion just in this year alone and reach $1.2 trillion within the next eight years, by 2021.

There has been an influx of new consulate officers being hired in the United States in order to accommodate the large numbers of people who intend to use US visas to visit the country for the very first time.  This has resulted in the waiting time for people from Brazil, China and India being cut from hundreds of days down to just a few, something that Ventrell says took a great deal of effort.

“It is impossible to say exactly how it would impact in each individual country,” Ventrell says.  “And indeed as we get closer to this I’ll see what more I can provide for you on (how) sequester would impact this department, but there’s no doubt in my mind and those who look at this closely that one of the areas there’ll be an impact on, obviously, is our ability to provide consular services.”