The United States embassy and consulates in China have already issued 1 million non-immigrant visas to Chinese nationals this year, with another 30,000 to be issued to students in the upcoming summer, the U.S.-based newspaper the China Press learned from the U.S embassy in Beijing.
U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus said on May 4 that the relaxed visa policies for tourists, business travelers and students have significantly increased the embassy staff's workload.
U.S. diplomatic agencies in China dealt with more than 1.8 million visa applications last year, but more than 940,000 applications have been submitted since last November (when the two countries announced the extension of visa validities), a 50 percent increase that has resulted in an average of 15,000 more applications each day, according to Baucus. If this trend continues, the U.S. will issue more than 2.5 million visas to Chinese citizens this year.
Baucus said this is an "enormous figure," but he nonetheless remained confident because the U.S. visa offices in China have still managed to keep the waiting period for visa processing short. He said that applications for student visas have only taken three days to process, while the waiting time for all visas has not exceeded seven days.
The U.S. Consul-General to China Edward Grulich said that this year has seen the busiest season for visa applications yet. Grulich said the extension of visa validity to five years allows Chinese students to save on application fees and save time.
According to the U.S. embassy, more and more Chinese students are seeking diplomas in the United States each year. Statistics show that China has become the United States' primary source of international students.
Jiang Hongmei, an English teacher from Anhui Province, was among the 23 teachers who were granted a 5-year student visa (F1). She said her application process has been smooth, adding that she planned to help her child, who has just started middle school, learn more about the visa process to prepare herself for future studies in the United States.
