Businesses pay the price for slow visa processing

Delays in visa processing have cost U.S. exporters more than $30 billion since 2002, a coalition of business groups reported Wednesday.

The report was based on a survey of small, medium and large companies from all segments of American industry commissioned by the groups. Though business groups have complained since 2002 that visa processing was hurting their revenues, this is the first report putting a dollar figure on the losses.

"Our companies have expressed growing frustration to government officials and Congress for nearly two years over the broken visa system, but to no avail," said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council. "When legitimate foreign business executives and vital international customers cannot enter the U.S. to conduct normal business, it is our companies, our workers, our economy and our international relations that pay the price."

Except for 27 mostly European nations, foreign citizens must apply for visas issued by the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs in order to come to the United States. The foreign trade council, along with the Aerospace Industries Association, American Council on International Personnel, the Association for Manufacturing and Technology, the Coalition for Employment Through Exports, the U.S.-China Business Council, the U.S.-Russia Business Council, and the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council sponsored the study. It was conducted by the Washington-based consulting firm, The Santangelo Group.

Companies that responded to the survey were asked to estimate the lost revenues and indirect expenses they incurred because of slow visa processing. The Santangelo Group extrapolated the $30 billion figure from that sample.

Of the 734 companies that responded:

• 73 percent have experienced problems in the processing of business travel visas, including unexpected delays and denials.
• 60 percent said they had paid the price for processing delays, including lost sales, increased costs, or relocating personnel overseas to deal with the problem.
• 51 percent said that problem was getting worse, not better.

Ed Rice, president of the business group Coalition for Employment through Exports, said that if the problems continue, "contracts and projects will go elsewhere" and "U.S. companies will increasingly move research and other facilities overseas."

In September 2003, the State and Homeland Security departments reached agreement on new visa-processing guidelines aimed at making it harder for would-be terrorists to enter the country. One of the major changes was requiring all visa applicants, except children and the elderly, come to an embassy or consulate for an interview.

The General Accounting Office reported last year that extra security checks conducted by the FBI for some scientific researchers seeking visas also has slowed the process.

The business group report recommended that reputable, well-known businesses should be granted "gold card" status, allowing their business travelers access to expedited procedures.