More than a Million US visas for Chinese Processed by US Embassy
January 12, 2012 – For the first time, more than one million non-immigrant visas a year had been processed by the US Embassy’s offices around China. This is according to US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke.
“Only one other country in the world has done that’s Mexico. This increase in China represents a 34percent increase over the number of applications that we processed last year,” he said.
Locke further said that the US is doing its best to provide the Chinese people easier processing for their US visa. This is regardless of the reason for entering the United States, either for studying, tourism, or for business. And for the Chinese people who have already entered USA, they are urged to apply early, as well as make use of the “drop-box system”.
Passports of previous travelers can simply be dropped off and collected at a later time. By the time the passport is picked up, a new United States visa comes along.
And to really make the country’s goal of providing faster processing of Chinese people’s USA visa possible, about 50 more Chinese-speaking visa officers will be arriving on March to work in China. This is according to Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, Charles Bennett. Bennett further said that China comprises 11 percent of the total visa workload for the United States.
It can be noted that the number of US visa applications has increased by 34 percent if compared to the data last year. This same figure has been doubled compared to the statistics five years ago.
“China now makes up about 11 percent of the total visa workload for the United States around the world. I think that’s a real significant number because it really does show the strength of our social and economic ties,” Bennett said.
Source:
chinadaily.com.cn
