Topline
The U.S. State Department announced a brand new hurdle for international travelers seeking tourist visas—which will make already-long visa wait times even longer.
“Effective immediately,” the State Department announced Saturday that nonimmigrant visa applicants should schedule an interview at their local U.S. embassy, adding “applicants must be able to demonstrate residence in the country where they are applying.”
The announcement warned applicants who schedule interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate outside of their country of nationality or residence they “might find that it will be more difficult to qualify for the visa,” noting that fees “will not be refunded and cannot be transferred.”
The new rule applies to short-term visas for tourists as well as business travelers, students and temporary workers.
Forbes has reached out to the U.S. Travel Association for comment.
The U.S. tourism industry has carped about the State Department’s long visa wait times for years. Geoff Freeman, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, explained to Forbes in 2023 that long visa wait times create an unnecessary friction that makes the country less competitive as a destination. “We need to look at travel as a path of least resistance. That’s what travelers tend to follow: Who makes it easy? Who makes it comfortable?” Freeman said at the time. Depending on a would-be tourist’s nationality, the wait time for a visa interview at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad can be more than a year.
International tourists spent $181 billion in the U.S. in 2024, according to travel association data. While domestic tourism represents a five-times-bigger slice of the country’s overall tourism pie, foreign travelers stay longer than Americans traveling within the U.S., and spend, on average, $4,000 per trip—eight times more than domestic travelers.
U.S. tourism officials were initially expecting to see a 9% increase in overall international arrivals to the U.S. in 2025. Instead, the U.S. is the only country that will see international visitor spending decline in 2025, according to a study from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) that analyzed the economic impact of tourism in 184 countries. The U.S. is facing an 8.2% decline in foreign tourists this year, according to Tourism Economics, the travel-focused division of Oxford Economics. “Geopolitical and policy-related concerns … paired with harsh rhetoric” have contributed to “unpredictability and negative global travel sentiment toward the US,” Tourism Economics wrote in its August update, noting “the sentiment drag has proven to be severe.” The organization noted international inbound air bookings for August through October are pacing 10% to 14% below last year, and air bookings from Canada—which accounts for nearly one quarter of all inbound tourism—have fallen by up to 43% compared to this time last year. All told, the U.S. went from an anticipated $16.3 billion increase in international tourism revenue to a loss of between $8.3 billion (Tourism Economics estimate) and $12.5 billion (WTTC estimate), meaning the U.S. is facing a shortfall of as much as $29 billion this year.
The passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which President Donald Trump signed into law in July, introduced a new $250 “visa integrity fee” for most non-immigrant U.S. visas, including tourist, student and work visas, beginning in 2026. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the new fee will bring in around $27 billion over a decade—or $2.7 billion per year—to U.S. government coffers. But a U.S. Travel Association official disputed how Congress calculated its estimate, telling Forbes its economic impact study found the fee will instead cost the U.S. economy $3.6 billion per year, including more than $3 billion in lost visitor spending and more than $450 million in lost tax revenue. In addition, the lost revenue will lead to 15,000 U.S. fewer travel jobs, according to U.S. tourism industry estimates.
Brand USA, the country’s public-private destination marketing organization, has laid off 15% of its staff, the travel industry news outlet Skift reported Saturday. The cuts come after the Big Beautiful Bill slashed the organization’s budget from $100 million to $20 million. USTA said it is “deeply concerned” by the cuts, noting in a statement that “for every $1 spent on marketing, Brand USA adds $25 to the U.S. economy.”
New $250 Visa Integrity Fee Will Cost US $11 Billion, Say Tourism Officials (Forbes)