International Trade Information’s Stephanie Selesnick looks at how visa affect the US tradeshow industry.
If getting visas were easier, the US could drive a staggering US$859bn in new economic output.
I could have just as easily titled this post, Why the US sucks at making our business guests before they even get here.
Or, Why even though relaxing our visa standards makes sense, it’s not a sexy topic so it’s tough to get people on the bandwagon.
Or, Why it’s so much harder to attract international exhibitors and visitors to our shows because the current visa process is so stupid.
Everyone greeted President Obama’s Export Initiative with enthusiasm. The challenge? No money has been put behind it. None. Zippo. Not one extra cent, not one extra person hired. Regardless of your politics - you should care about funding for this. Exports create jobs. The more stuff we sell to other countries, the more jobs are created here at home.
And visas? They are an important part of the export process. When you think that International CES had over 30,000 international exhibitors and visitors and CONAGG/CONEXPO had over 35,000, there’s a huge financial impact.
Presently, there are 36 countries in the Visa Waiver Program (meaning that citizens of those countries don’t need visas for stays up to 90 days). However, they still have to go through a registration process before leaving their respective countries.
People from the other 159 countries (160 if you count Taiwan) on the planet have to complete a form, PAY for the visa before they can even get an interview, then jump through about five million hoops to come here.
Sometimes, business people can get expedited service, but mostly not. (To see a great illustration of the process, Smarter Visa Policy, then click on “Click here” for the pdf).
Wait times for an interview can vary widely, according to the State Department. In New Dehli, someone can get an interview scheduled eight days, but it’s 51 in Shanghai and 121 days in Sao Paulo (121 days = 4 months). Think about the impact of this process on your international marketing programme. Mind boggling, no? And the interviews? Two minutes long on average.
If we streamlined the process of obtaining visitor visas, more than one million jobs would be created and drive $859bn in new economic output through 2020. I don’t know about you, but those are big and powerful numbers - and who knows? Doing so could help jumpstart new jobs in our economy!
Last week, the US Travel Association laid out a programme which calls for reducing the interview wait time to 10 days, among other points. I invite you to visit the site to get involved and educate/remind your reps in Congress that there is a smarter, more welcoming way to bring in international buyers to our shows, thereby creating new jobs.
- Stephanie Selesnick is President of International Trade Information, a Los Angeles-based international exhibition management and conference company founded in 1972. Reach her at stephanie@intltradeinfo.com and follow her on Twitter @StephSelesnick.
Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
