What Happened?

Fewer international visitors came to the U.S, in fiscal year 2025 with nearly seven-month wait times for a visa interview being a contributing factor. The investigative arm of Congress known as the Government Accountability Office (GAO),found that average visitor visa interview wait times rose from 26 days in fiscal year 2019 to 201 days in fiscal year 2025. ​

The number of consular officers processing nonimmigrant visas dropped from 1,342 in fiscal year 2024 to 904 in fiscal year 2025, driven by hiring freezes and attrition. Visa adjudications rose to 11.7 million in fiscal 2025, surpassing the 9.2 million recorded in fiscal 2019.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

The U.S. Travel Association reported that international travel and tourism contributed $176 billion to the U.S. economy in 2025, $28 billion below pre-pandemic levels, with long visa waits cited as a contributing factor. The GAO found that State Department staffing shortages have contributed to delays that affect international travel and the U.S. economy

In fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found weighted-average visa interview waits of 346 days in India and 283 days in Mexico. Brazil and China fared better, averaging 32 and 34 days, respectively.

Both Sides, Now

GAO's audit found that the State Department has a tool called the Global Repositioning Exercise (GREX), designed to match consular staffing to visa workloads each year, but no policy requires it to be used consistently. State has run and implemented GREX only once since fiscal year 2019, skipping it during the pandemic and again in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 because, officials said, policy priorities changed.

Officials in India, Mexico, Brazil, and China all identified staffing levels as a major factor in delays, according to GAO. GAO recommended that the Secretary of State establish a formal policy requiring the Bureau of Consular Affairs to run GREX consistently and align staffing with demand.

State neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendation, and GAO maintained it was valid. The House Appropriations Committee requested the audit through the explanatory statement accompanying legislation that became the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, directing GAO to examine consular efficiency including visa processing times.

What Happens Next?

GAO recommended that the State Department set up a policy or guidance requiring consistent staffing reviews, and that recommendation remains open. Without a required workload assessment, GAO warned, the State Department risks continued staffing imbalances and prolonged wait times. Reducing immigration to the U.S. has been and remains one of President Trump's main executive priorities.

Congress can press the State Department through the annual appropriations process or oversight hearings, but no vote or hearing on consular staffing is currently scheduled. The Legis1 tracker follows related legislative and agency activity as it develops.

Will the State Department adopt a formal staffing review policy before visa wait times climb even higher?

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