Canadian residents face the longest waits in the world for U.S. visas

Canadian residents who require a visa to visit the United States face the longest wait times in the world.

A CBC News analysis of wait times for appointments to obtain U.S. tourist visas shows that while wait times in countries like India and Mexico have been improving since November 2022, wait times in Canada have been getting worse.

Six of the 10 longest wait times around the world were recorded at the U.S. embassy and consulate offices in Canada that offer visa appointments.

Currently, those who apply for a B1/B2 visitor visa appointment in Ottawa or Quebec City face the longest wait times in the world — 850 days. Halifax is not far behind at 840 days, followed by Calgary at 839 days. Getting a visa appointment in Toronto takes 753 days, while in Vancouver it’s 731 days.

Wait times can fluctuate from day to day. Earlier this month, Toronto had the longest wait time in the world — 900 days.

The other locations with the longest current wait times are Istanbul, Turkey (774 days), Bogota, Colombia (677 days), Guatemala City, Guatemala (645 days) and Hermosillo, Mexico (576 days).

In November 2022, a 464-day average wait time put Toronto in 23rd place around the world, followed by Calgary in 30th place with a 371-day wait.

In 2022, the average wait time around the world was 167 days, while the average wait time for Canadian residents was 345 days. Today, the average global wait time for a U.S. visitor visa appointment is 151 days — but the average wait time for Canadian residents has ballooned to 810 days.

U.S. warns of scams targeting visa applicants

The wait times are now so long that U.S. officials are warning of scammers preying on Canadian residents by promising them quicker appointments in return for money.

Applicants from India or Mexico — which topped the list of average wait times in 2022 at 972 and 622 days, respectively — now have to wait little more than a year, while applicants from China face a 40-day wait for a visa interview.

Wait times have decreased at 109 locations around the world and have increased at 84 locations, including all six Canadian locations that offer visa appointments.

U.S. embassy officials declined CBC News’ request for an interview but blamed the long wait times on increased demand.

“Across Canada, our embassy and consulate teams are processing a record number of visas,” the embassy said in a media statement. “In 2023, the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Canada issued more than 230,000 non-immigrant visas, the highest number ever.”

The embassy refused to disclose the number of applications it has received from Canadian residents in recent years, or to state whether security checks are affecting wait times.

The embassy said it is committed to reducing wait times and has started a program to allow applicants to move existing appointments to earlier dates at no additional cost. The wait times published on the U.S. Department of State website reflect the first appointment currently available.

“Most applicants are getting interviews within 12 months of scheduling their appointment,” the embassy wrote. “Applicants with urgent travel needs who meet certain criteria, including urgent business, humanitarian, or medical criteria, can always apply for an expedited appointment.”

In a January update, the State Department said its goal for 2024 was to bring interview wait times down under 90 days in 90 per cent of its overseas posts.

While Canadian citizens do not require a visa to visit the United States, that’s not the case for millions of others living in Canada, such as permanent residents, students and temporary workers. Statistics Canada’s 2021 census counted 3.1 million Canadian residents who did not have Canadian citizenship; 2.2 million of them were permanent residents.

If a Canadian resident comes from one of 41 countries where the U.S. has waived the visa requirement — such as Australia, Israel and many European countries — the only requirement is to fill out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application.

But Canadian residents who come from countries that don’t have visa waiver arrangements with the United States — such as India, China, Mexico and many countries in Africa and South America — have to apply for a B1/B2 visa.

In February 2023, six U.S. senators sent a letter to the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs complaining that it was taking an average of 25 weeks around the world to get a U.S. visitor visa appointment.

“These delays impact industries, businesses, universities and families across the United States,” the senators wrote. “Businesses that rely on tourism suffer when would-be customers cannot get a visa appointment in a timely manner.”

The U.S. Travel Association has been lobbying the U.S. government to reduce what it has described as “outrageous” visa interview wait times, saying it creates a chilling effect on tourism to the U.S.

“Excessive wait times severely undercut U.S. global competitiveness and the Biden administration’s national goal for inbound visitation,” the association said in a statement. “The U.S. Department of State must remain laser focused on solving this critical issue.”

The association was at a loss to explain why the wait times for residents of the U.S.’s closest neighbour are among the highest in the world.

American immigration lawyer Greg Boos said the long wait times for Canadian residents are the result of short-staffing at the State Department and an increase in applications.

“The consulates are always short-staffed,” said Boos, who works with Cascadia Cross Border Law in Bellingham, Washington. “In my whole career, they have never had enough staff.”

Boos said the consulates have been working on clearing the backlog, which was made worse by the pandemic.

“They started working through the family visas first, they got through those,” Boos said. “Then they started working through the business visas. It took them a long time to get through those backlogs. But there was a big backlog that developed for the tourist visas or the B1/B2 visas. And they haven’t gotten through those.”

Recent immigration to Canada is also playing a role, said Boos.

“Many of the people that the Canadian government is accepting, and many people who are coming there in refugee status and in those kinds of statuses, they are not from the ESTA countries,” he said. “They are from countries where the United States requires them to get a formal visa prior to coming to visit the United States.”

Boos said the U.S. could reduce visa wait times by increasing the number of interview waivers for some categories of visas, hiring more consular officers and extending operating hours at consulates.