US expands consular services in China

The U.S. Embassy announced a dramatic expansion of its Consulate General in central China's Wuhan City to include full consular and visa services, as part of its efforts to meet soaring demand for U.S. visas and enhance services for American citizens in China. The move is aimed to reduce pressure on the U.S. consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou, and at the embassy in Beijing. The expansion is expected to lead to 200,000 visa applications to be handled p er year at the Wuhan Consulate. The process to begin offering full consular services, including processing visa applications, is ongoing in Wuhan in cooperation with the local government, according to Gary Locke, the U.S. ambassador to China. "We are hopeful that the expansion will be completed by the summer of 2014," he said. Demand for U.S. visa services in China has continued to rise. The number of applications to date in 2012 has grown 45 percent over the same period in 2011. Despite the resilient rise in visa demand, applicants in China currently wait an average of 10 days to make interview appointments, compared with over 50 days at this time last year. Another step the U.S. is taking to catch up with demand is a decision to reopen previously vacated consular section on Gu anghua Lu in Beijing's Chaoyang District. This move will increase its visa processing capacity in Beijing by 50 percent. Other efforts to upgrade consular facilities are also ongoing in Shanghai and Chengdu. Shenyang may be included in expansion projects in the future. According to statistics provided by the U.S. Embassy to China, in 2011, U.S. consular offices processed over one million nonimmigrant visa applications in China, an increase of 34 percent over the previous year. Applications thus far in 2012 have increased nearly 45 percent over the same period in 2011. Visa issues became the epicenter of a diplomatic row last month between Beijing and Washington as the U.S. State Department said it would review the credentials of Confucius Institutes in the U.S. At a news conference in Beijing on Friday, Gary Lock told reporters that the U.S. hasn't changed its visa policy on this issue but still implements its exiting policy. "The U.S. embassy has met representatives from Confucius Institutes in Beijing and the U.S State Department has also met with the Chinese Embassy in Washington to work on this issue," he said. The U.S., while mired in a sluggish economy, is adopting a strategy of revving up its economy through gaining greater travel from China. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, more than one million Chinese visited the country in 2011, and these tourists spent more than US$6,000 each during a trip. Every 65 visitors to the United States represent travel and tourism spending sufficient to support one travel and tourism-related job. In February, the U.S. launched a pilot program to streamline visa procedures by permitting consular officers to waive interv iews for some qualified nonimmigrant applicants worldwide who are renewing their visa within 48 months of the expiration of their previously held visa, and within the same classification as the previous visa. Source: china.org.cn By He Shan from China Travel & Tourism News http://www.chinatraveltourismnews.com/

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