President Obama has signed an executive order calling on his staff to maintain an interagency process for coordinating the implementation of regulatory improvements and the evaluation of legislative proposals to enhance and expedite travel to and arrival in the US by non-US citizens.
The order calls on the secretaries of State and DHS, in consultation with White House and OMB and others to develop an implementation plan in the next two months describing actions to increase non-immigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent over the coming year.
The plan should also ensure that 80 percent of non-immigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of application, as well as increase efforts to expand the Visa Waiver Program and travel by nationals of Visa Waiver Program participants, and expand reciprocal recognition programs for expedited travel, such as the Global Entry program.
The order notes that international tourism dropped from 17 to 11 percent in 2000 – 2010, and it establishes a “task for on travel and competitiveness” chaired by the secretaries of Commerce and the Interior, and charged with developing a national travel and tourism strategy.
The strategy should recommend new policies and initiatives to promote domestic and international travel opportunities throughout the U.S. with the goal of increasing the U.S. market share of worldwide travel, including obtaining a greater share of long-haul travel from Brazil, China, and India.
