State Department tips

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, February 13. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

The U.S. airline industry is asking the federal government to pause the expansion of passenger flights to China, citing “anti-competitive policies of the Chinese government.”

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, March 28. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Congress has set aside $50 million for the U.S. State Department to help “reduce passport backlogs and reduce visa wait times” in a bill signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday and praised by the travel industry this week.

Passport processing times have returned to pre-pandemic levels, the State Department said Monday — it now takes just six to eight weeks for a passport, or two to three weeks for an expedited one. 

Demand for U.S. visas from Indian travelers are at record highs. But 500-day wait times or longer continue to hinder travel to the U.S.  

The U.S. Department of State has issued a travel alert to all Americans traveling abroad on Thursday, urging them to exercise caution due to heightened tensions in various locations and potential terrorist attacks and violent actions against U.S. citizens. The alert is in response to the global consequences of ongoing the war between Israel and Hamas.

The U.S. State Department issued on Thursday a “worldwide caution” to Americans traveling abroad as the war between Israel and Hamas stokes tensions globally. Americans were advised to “stay alert in locations frequented by tourists.”

The U.S. travel industry shouldn’t get its hopes up that the newly created assistant secretary of travel and tourism position will make the U.S. more globally competitive, said U.S. Travel CEO and President Geoff Freeman at the Skift Global Forum.

The U.S. has added Israel to the Visa Waiver Program, the U.S. Department of State announced Wednesday. Starting November 30, Israeli citizens and nationals will be to travel to the U.S. for tourism or business without first obtaining a visitor visa for up to 90 days. Israeli citizens and nationals will only need to complete Electronic System for Travel Authorization.

Global average wait times for U.S. visitor visas dropped below 150 days in January for the first time since 2021, according to the U.S. Travel Association. They still, however, remain higher than 400 days for India, Brazil, Mexico and top inbound visa-requiring markets (excluding China).

American embassies are working around the clock to bring down the amount of time international travelers have to wait to get a visitor visa interview in order to travel to the U.S., according to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services Julie Stufft. The global median wait time for a B-1 or B-2 visa, also known as a visitor visa, has been reduced from 17 weeks in June to five weeks now. 

U.S. visitor visa wait times remain over 400 days on average for first-time visa applicants from top inbound markets, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

Predictably, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory following yesterday’s terrorist attacks in Brussels.

Last week the State Department released a vague warning about Mexico travel to Playa Del Carmen, saying it had “received information about a security threat,” and prohibited government employees from traveling there for several days.

Since diplomatic relations with Cuba were reinstated and a newly liberalized U.S.-Cuba aviation agreement was enacted last year, travel between the two countries has been a decidedly up-and-down affair.

The U.S. State Department implemented a revamped version of its travel advisory system yesterday that rates every country’s travel safety on a scale of one to four. The new classifications are designed to simplify travel advisory information so people can easily decide if a particular destination is safe enough to visit.

The U.S. State Department this week added two of Mexico’s most popular leisure destinations to its long list of Mexican cities that Americans should avoid, or where they should exercise extra caution.

Increasing concerns over the risk of being arrested and detained in North Korea have led the U.S. Department of State to restrict Americans from traveling there. The ban is expected to go into effect on September 1.

In an overhaul of its travel advisory system, the U.S. Department of State recently assigned every country in the world a travel safety rating. The safest places are ranked Level 1, while the places that Americans are advised to avoid are considered Level 4:

Amid a surge of new passport applications, the United States Department of State is taking a summer road trip of sorts across America to help travelers complete their application process.  The “Special Passport Acceptance Fairs” will be held at public libraries, recreation centers, and local city administrative offices. A majority of the events are in California and New Jersey, but several others are taking place in Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, and Wisconsin. New events are added weekly, and the full schedule is available in the U.S. Department of State’s website.