Visa delays threaten to stall international tourism to the United States and negatively impact American communities and businesses, including the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration in 2026.
U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to increase capacity at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to address dramatic visa delays well ahead of global events in 2026, the FIFA World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary, that are expected to bring in millions of visitors and major economic opportunities.
In Virginia alone, the 250th anniversary events are expected to draw more than 9 million visitors and deliver more than $1.5 billion in economic activity, including 22,000 new jobs.
“We are increasingly concerned that the Department of State is not prepared for the influx of international tourists we hope will come enjoy our nation’s and Virginia’s many exciting offerings during the America’s 250th celebrations. International visitors were projected to bring in more than $200 billion to the United States in 2025, though this administration’s tariffs and treatment of foreign visitors is actively driving down international tourism, resulting in a projected $9 billion loss in visitor spending. Very little time remains to recover, but the rewards for doing so will be tremendous. America’s tourism industry has the opportunity to be dramatically buoyed when the United States begins hosting millions of international soccer fans for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be the first tournament that includes an expanded field of 48 nations. Virginia is eager to welcome visitors during their time in the United States to enjoy our beautiful state and national parks, historical sights, cities, restaurants and small businesses,” the senators wrote.
Staff cuts at the state department including at embassies and consulates around the world are happening instead of increasing staff to accommodate needs.
“These staff are responsible for interviewing potential visitors and processing visas ahead of tourist travel to the United States. Visa wait times at United States embassies and consulates have been a challenge for years, and there were bipartisan efforts in Congress during the past administration to increase resourcing commensurate with demand. We have strong concerns that, rather than working to chip away at these backlogs, the staffing policies by this administration threaten to dramatically increase tourist visa wait times,” the senators wrote.
Emphasizing the need to address visa delays, the senators noted that wait times at some embassies already eclipse the number of days until next year’s events. They stressed that international visitors, including soccer fans from several likely FIFA World Cup qualifiers, will simply not be able to travel to the United States if no action is taken to address visa wait times.
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Rebecca Barnabi
