Site Members Praise Proposals to Make US Visa Processing Easier
Site members share their thoughts on the new U.S. Travel and Tourism initiatives proposed to make it easier for international companies to hold motivational events in the U.S. One specific program is aimed at significantly speeding up visa approvals for travelers from China and Brazil.
“These initiatives should not only help our outgoing market, but also help inbound travel as well as Brazil applies reciprocity on immigrations issues,” shared Carlos Barros, Managing Director of Consolid Brasil, a full-service incentive travel, event and meeting company located in Rio je Janeiro. ”It is time that the U.S. and Brazil apply reasonable criteria to increase our bilateral trading.”
In September of this year, Site is holding its International Conference in Beijing as both a celebration of the destination and in recognition that China is a nation increasing their use of motivational travel experiences. Heading the Host Committee is Liu Ping, CEO of Star Professional Programs in Beijing and a
member of the Site Board of Directors.
“This is very good news for our industry. The US is one of the top destinations that Chinese people want to visit. With less visa restrictions, I believe that more Chinese will be traveling to the US – a country that has been to many Chinese like a mirage, something you can see, but never reach.”
Site members from around the globe agree that increasing the potential of easily hosting inbound groups from all countries of the world will benefit American business and the American worker.
For More to think about...
Here is a copy of a personal perspective from Liu PIng's Blog
Going to the American Embassy Used to be “ Pain “
I do not know how many Chinese people have been refused visas by the American embassy or consulates in China. I am lucky. I have never been refused. But I feel very uncomfortable to see other people being refused. When I see people in our neighboring countries can travel to a lot of countries without visas, I feel hurt. In China, people condemn some celebrities for they “betray” their own country and immigrate to foreign countries. According to their explanation, a simple reason is that they can travel freely without visas to a lot of countries after giving up their Chinese citizenship. No matter the reason is convincing or not, no Chinese people will feel happy to hear it. Chinese people feel even worse when they see some corrupted Chinese officials or business people become the American citizens or citizens of other western countries so easily.
So for me, when I heard about Obama’s announcement, I did not think about our industry first. I thought about our country and ordinary Chinese people. A netizen sent me a message after reading my blog article about Obama’s announcement and said: It is really great news. I lost my enthusiasm to USA after I had been refused the visa twice. Now I feel so good to hear the news which means China is getting more powerful. It is so nice to be a citizen with more dignity living in a powerful nation.
See, it is not just a matter of a visa!
I never understand the conditions based on which the American visa officials accept or refuse the visa applications. Quite often people refused by the American embassy are those who would never have an idea to immigrate to USA.
I was very frustrated by the fact that my colleague Liu Yi was twice refused by the American embassy in Beijing in October 2011. Liu Yi was assigned the stage manager for Beijing Kick-out Luncheon at the Site International Conference in Las Vegas. He went to the American embassy with all the necessary documents including the company license, guarantee letters by the company and by Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, certificate of personal property, invitation letters from Site and Las Vegas concerned authority, etc, but was refused. We finally went to Las Vegas without a stage manager.
My colleague Liu Yi, who was refused by the American embassy for two times.
My son got a mult-entry visa valid for one year when he applied for his American visa for the first time in 2009. One of the reasons was that he applied for the visa with me who had a good record. The service in the embassy has been improved, but it is definitely not satisfactory. Usually it takes several hours waiting in line for the visa applicants to be interviewed by the visa officials. That was why I never had the courage to take my parents to visit the States. I couldn’t bear the scene that they suffered a couple of hours standing in the crowd with no place to sit, waiting for their visa interview like those grey-haired seniors I often saw in the American embassy. Now they are too old to travel that far. My colleague David Liu is a regular traveler and has been to USA many times. It took him more than two hours to get interviewed when he applied for a new American visa last year.
The purpose of Obama’s Executive Order is to attract more tourists from China and Brazil, to create more job opportunities and to promote the American economy. We Chinese people feel proud that we can make contributions to the economy of USA; a country has been like a mirage, something you can see, but never can reach.
Of course, it is good news for our industry. USA is one of the top destinations that Chinese people want to visit. With less visa restriction, I believe that more Chinese people will go to USA for sightseeing, eating, shopping, entertainment, learning, business and meetings, etc. Think about the huge Chinese population! China is an inexhaustible market for the American tourism even if there is just a small portion of the population can afford a trip to USA.
I hope that there is no “pain” anymore for Chinese people to get the American visas.