U.S. to relax visa policy for Chinese

Chengdu (CNS) – The United States government will implement a new policy to simplify visa applications starting on February 13, allowing qualified non-immigrant Chinese applicants to renew without another interview if their visas expired less than 48 months ago, said U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke on Thursday.

The new visa policy was announced during a telephone conference jointly held by the U.S. embassy and consulates in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Shenyang.

The initiative includes B (temporary visitors for business and pleasure), C1 (transit), F (students), J (exchange visitors) and other categories, covering most of the visas issued by the U.S., Locke said.

This new policy is valid globally, and officers on diplomatic missions will still have the right to interview people when they think it is necessary, he added.

With the implementation of the new policy, officers at embassies and consulates will have more time to interview first-time applicants, freeing up 10,000 more interview opportunities a year for applicants for non-immigrant visas to the U.S., Locke said.

On January 19, U.S. president Barack Obama signed an executive order to boost travel to the U.S., aiming to increase the visa-processing capacity in China by 40 percent.