U.S. passports and visa systems are experiencing technical problems

Abstract: Especially anxious, do not know will delay with the customer's encounter! A project manager of a foreign-funded architectural design company in Shanghai he was worried about the 21st century Economic report that he was concerned about the recent days of the U.S. visa application or will be postponed the news, because the U.S. passport "particularly anxious, do not know will delay the meeting with customers!" "A project manager of a foreign architectural design company in Shanghai on the 21st century Economic report

What worries him is the news of a visa application to the United States in recent days, or a delay, because the U.S. passport and visa system is experiencing technical problems. He had just received a notice at the Los Angeles headquarters last weekend asking him to go to headquarters next Monday to report the progress of the project to his clients. "Originally intended for this Monday morning booking, it is said that the expedited business visa generally can be done within one week." He sighed.

Like the project manager, many students waiting for visas to travel to the U.S. are also anxious because the itinerary has been determined.

The U.S. State Department July 26 confirmed that the visa system collapsed, the global visa to the United States suspended. On the morning of July 28, some media reported that the visa system had been restored and that the face sign could continue.

But what about the concrete progress of system recovery?

U.S. Embassy spokesman Koeinghau July 28 in a written reply to the 21st century Economic report, said the U.S. State Department's consular Affairs bureau has indeed encountered the passport and visa system technical problems, its database in the maintenance soon after the crash, and the root cause is not clear.

"Our current operational capacity has been significantly reduced, and this situation will continue until the backlog of documents is disposed of." Customer service will be interrupted until the full recovery of system functionality and the backlog of work is processed. "said Colin Kennedy.

James Brokenshire, the British immigration and security minister, told the newspaper that British citizens in the United States were also affected by the U.S. visa system (James Broken Hill). He said the UK is very concerned about the security of visa information.

He also said that the consular comprehensive database since July 19 began to appear, including the interruption of serious operational problems, the online system has been repaired on July 23. The problem is universal and does not target any particular country, citizen document or Visa category.

"We apologize to the applicant and recognize that this may cause difficulties for applicants waiting for visas and passports." We are trying to solve the problem as soon as possible. On the website Travel.State.Gov will release the latest progress in time. "said Colin Kennedy.

In recent years, the number of Chinese outbound citizens is rising to new highs, while the United States is one of the main destinations for Chinese citizens to leave the country. According to Patrick Kennedy, Deputy Minister of administration of the U.S. State Department, in 2013, visa applications in China accounted for more than 14% per cent of the global share, while in addition to Mexico, China had more nonimmigrant visas than any other country in the world.

Of course, the United States is also one of the first "hands-on" countries to compete for Chinese tourists this year.

March 3, the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, the visa office held a opening ceremony to meet the expansion of Chinese citizens in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places, the growing demand for visas to the United States. After the expansion, the Shanghai consulate will be allowed to process 60多万份 visa applications every year. Last year only Shanghai consulate issued 415,000 visas, the visa pass rate reached 90%, daily visa processing capacity reached more than 1600.

In other words, there are more than 1600 visa applicants per day in the Shanghai consulate, who are affected by the technical problems. In addition to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu Consulate, in China affected visa applicants will be more.

In that case, will the visa application delay be the same for those who travel to the United States in the form of tours?

21st Century Economic Report reporter specifically called the Chinese National Brigade and Cyts, the staff told reporters they did not receive a delay in the visa application and the United States to suspend business notice, to the U.S. business as usual.

However, the staff of the Cyts reminded reporters that, generally speaking, travel society requires the team to prepare materials for visa applications at least two months in advance. According to the reporter's projections, the two-month time is enough to solve the problem of delay in the visa application.