The Biden administration had eased Covid-related travel restrictions early last month — before the Omicron variant caused some to be reinstituted — replacing them with vaccination requirements for all adult foreign travelers seeking to come to the United States.
While this was welcome news, business travel and tourism — including students, tourists and workers that support the D.C.-area economy — will continue to suffer unless the State Department increases visa processing capacity at U.S. embassies and consulates.
As a former attorney in the State Department’s visa office, I believe the department must rethink how its consular officers return to work and modernize how they process visas. These changes are critical, given looming visa backlogs and the anticipated increased demand for visas, especially from travelers who have been ineligible to receive them due to the Covid travel bans.
Current visa office policies mandate that consular officers process visas in the office.…
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