Long Waits Still Haunt Travelers Even as Visa Issuances Rebound

The State Department’s large gains in the number of visas issued overseas last year—surpassing pre-Covid levels in some categories—remains muted by extreme wait times that many immigrants, visitors, and tourists still face to enter the country.

US embassies and consular offices issued 200,000 more immigrant visas overseas last fiscal year than in FY 2021, and 4.1 million more temporary, non-immigrant visas than the prior fiscal year, according to the Visa Office’s annual report.

The numbers, released in late January, reflect the return of State Department services that were limited for much of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as efforts ...