The issuance of American business and tourist visas for Brazilians has skyrocketed and is already approaching the average observed in the period before the pandemic. In December 2021, 43,000 B1/B2 visas were issued, equivalent to 1,400 per day, a movement driven by the reopening of the country’s borders in November last year. Over the past two years, the release was restricted to emergency cases and was limited to a few units or dozens of permits.
The rush of Brazilians to go to the US has meant that the waiting time for a temporary visitor visa interview at the Consulate in São Paulo has reached 294 calendar days, more than nine months. In Rio, the US State Department estimate is 183 days; in Porto Alegre, the wait can be up to 227 days, and in the federal capital, 248.
The Embassy highlights the agility of the scheduling system and says that indications may not be accurate and up to date. The amount of visa issuance had been growing over the last quarter of last year. In October, the number was just over 1,000 and rose to 24,000 in November with the permission of foreigners.
The release took place after a suspension that had lasted since March 2020. Shortly after the beginning of the new coronavirus pandemic, the issuance of visas began to fall and reached, in June of that year, only 13. A very different scenario from that observed in the period pre-pandemic, when the monthly average ranged from 30,000 to 50,000. In April 2018, for example, it reached 57,300.
Since April 2021, visa applications for some categories such as H1-B (professionals in areas that require specialized knowledge), H2-B (temporary worker), J (exchange student) and L (intracompany transfer), aimed at exchange programs, were returned to service. In May, it was time to resume processing of some visa categories for students, academics, journalists and essential workers, provided a National Interest Exception (NIE) was granted.
The US visa application process generally resumed on November 8th. Because of the need to comply with health and safety protocols, the US Embassy says that the number of interviews has not yet been able to return to pre-pandemic levels. “But we are doing everything in our power to serve as many applicants as possible,” he says in a statement.
“We are working diligently to increase the availability of consultations for all classes of visas”, informs the American mission in Brazil. “Since services resumed in November 2021, new appointment schedules for interviews have been made available on the online system, and people who have already made their appointments can continue to access the online system regularly to try to reschedule their interviews for later dates. nearby, without any kind of extra charge.”
Human rights researcher Yuri Silva, 26, is on a trip to the United States. On March 4, he embarks to lead a delegation of Brazilians with the objective of exchanging public policies. “We will understand in Newark and in New York, how the relationship between the police and the black population of these territories takes place, in order to compare them with Brazil”, he explains.
The travel plans are old, dating back to 2017, when a delegation from the City of Newark visited Bahia. With the pandemic, the trip was postponed a few times and Silva says he felt frustrated. “It was frustrating because this was an important issue for Brazil,” he says.
The issuance of the American visa was quick in his view, it took about a month – in January, he already had his authorization issued. The researcher did the entire process on his own, following guidelines from the Consulate’s website. He believes that the agility was due to the research objective. “It made it a lot easier for me to present invitation letters from large American organizations. I was invited by the City of Newark and civil society organizations such as ICJustice and the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCDAI).”
Anxious, he now takes care of the final preparations: buying tickets and dollars, booking accommodation, warm clothes. “We will catch the end of winter”, he points out. The delegation stays until the second week of March in the country.
When they left the American consulate in São Paulo, on Rua Henri Dunant, in the Santo Amaro neighborhood, last Thursday, 10, even with their faces covered by the mask, the smile of doctor Marina Lorenzo Costa, 28, and her mother , Graciema, were evident. “It’s a relief. It was something that remained unresolved for two years”, explains the 56-year-old sales professional.
Plans to visit the United States again are old. They decided to start the visa process in January 2020, when the new coronavirus was already circulating around the world, but it still seemed like a distant reality in Brazil. The interview was scheduled for April of the same year. In March, the pandemic set in and, with that, the date changed several times – Marina doesn’t even remember for sure how many.
For the obstetrics resident, the rescheduling caused stress. “I do residency, so I don’t have time. I had scheduled to get a visa on my vacation,” she says. As they live in Curitiba, coming to São Paulo costs an entire day exclusively for the function. Marina says that, when the interview was rescheduled for November 2020, she decided to advance the air tickets to the capital of São Paulo. However, as she didn’t buy refundable tickets, she ended up losing the money.
With the visa approved, they feel more relaxed, however, they will still study the possibility of traveling to New York. “At the time we had scheduled to get the visa, the dollar was not that expensive”, explains the doctor. Another factor to be taken into account by both is the pandemic. Marina assesses that even with the outbreaks, a large portion of patients present more controlled conditions, even so, she thinks that “it will take a little time to open everything”.
Like those from Curitiba, even with her visa renewed, lawyer Wendy Soliman Dias, 39, still doesn’t know when she will leave for the US.
Originally, she was scheduled to travel to Miami, Florida, in August 2020. The ticket had been purchased the year before. The pandemic arrived and postponed plans. In November of the same year, her and her children’s visa expired. “Since then we’ve been trying to reschedule and we haven’t been able to,” she says.
“I went ‘crazy’. When it opened in November last year, I already started hunting for appointments. I made an appointment for Rio, for the day it opened, when it didn’t work out, we managed to set this date (February 10)”, he says. According to her, the service in the capital of Rio de Janeiro did not happen, as it offers different services from those in São Paulo. As the children turned 18, the authorization renewal required an interview. “Now, with the visa, let’s see how this passage will turn out. Because bought in 2019…”, she says.
Resumption of international tourism
The airline Latam Airlines Brasil noticed an increase in demand for travel to destinations operated in the United States from October onwards. The growth of searches in the first weeks, he informs, reached 300%.
While the borders were closed to tourists, the company maintained the routes to Miami and New York, departing from Guarulhos (SP), but with a lower weekly frequency (3 weekly flights). With the reopening, the company began to increase the weekly frequency of flights to destinations and reactivated the route to Orlando in December 2021.
“We ended December with an occupancy factor very close to 85%, 86%. Depending on the day, 100%”, says the director of sales and marketing at Latam, Diogo Elias. “In January, we had the same expectations, including more flights (to the US). But mainly in the second fortnight came the impact of Ômicron”, he says. The occupancy factor, then, was between 75% and 85%, with flight cancellations and passengers who canceled their trips.
Elias says that the effect of the variant was fleeting, even so, he believes that only in 2023, pre-pandemic levels of international travel sales will resume. This is because, according to him, there is still pressure from the diversity of rules for entering countries and the high value of the dollar.
He points out that Latam has not yet resumed flights to the United States in states other than São Paulo. Before, there were passengers who boarded in Manaus, Salvador and Fortaleza, for example. Even those leaving Guarulhos Airport represent 50% of the fleet prior to the health crisis.
CVC Corp has seen searches for price inquiries and quotes for packages in the United States grow more than 100% after the announcement of the opening of borders in November. The travel agency, however, highlights that the resumption of international tourism is “slower”, because of the rise in the dollar and the pandemic. The most sought after international destinations, he informs, at the moment, are Portugal, Cancun, Orlando, Chile and Buenos Aires.
In the second week of December, CVC Corp reports that there was a slowdown in sales, especially from international destinations, after the advance of Ômicron. The company, however, believes that the effects of the variant on travel search were transient.
exchange visas
Visas for studies, F1 and J1, began to grow significantly in the first half of last year with the resumption of issuance by the consular service in Brazil. With monthly values that vary throughout the year, the pace of emissions seems to return to what was seen before the pandemic.
Type F1 visas are intended for students in an academic or language training program. In general, there is a growth in emissions between March and July, when it reaches the highest monthly peak of the year. Until September, there is a rhythm of decline. The expeditions rise subtly until December, falling from the month of January.
J1 visas are specifically for exchange students. Normally, there is a growth in emissions between April and July, when it reaches the highest peak of the year. Until September, there is a rhythm of decline. The expeditions rise until November, falling from the month of December.
The STB – Student Travel Bureau highlights that the USA has always been one of the most sought after destinations by Brazilians, due to the “American dream” and the diversity of academic opportunities. With the closing of the borders, sales stopped. In April, with the resumption of emissions, “the interest of Brazilians resumed with full force, placing the destination again at the top of the ranking of the most popular for exchanges.”
The president of STB, José Carlos Hauer, explains that the growth is large, but gradual. “We see constant growth and expect to reach the levels of 2018, 2019, when sales were giving more.” However, he thinks this should only happen in 2023. “People are waiting for greater security to travel”, he explains.
Given the flexibility for students and advancement of vaccination, CI Intercâmbio e Viagem sold 30% more packages to the United States in 2021 compared to the previous year. “In November, when the reopening took place for Brazilians with a valid tourist visa and with the possibility of studying for up to 12 weeks with a lower workload, demand increased even more”, he highlights, in a note.
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