Commerce to speed up business visa approvals

Commerce to speed up business visa approvals    U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told attendees at the National District Export Council Conference in Washington this week that the Obama administration is committed to improving visa processing times for foreign executives seeking to do business with American companies.
   “The United States often makes it too difficult for foreign company executives to enter here to do business — a shortcoming that has had a tangible cost for American businesses by shutting out some of their best customers,” Locke said.
   The Association of Equipment Manufacturer reports that its members lose one in three Chinese buyers invited to attend major U.S. trade shows because their visas are denied, even though many of them have previously visited the United States on buying missions without incident, Locke noted.
   “And Boeing recently had to delay the delivery of a $250 million freighter because an inspector from the Chinese aviation authority didn’t receive his visa on time,” Locke said.
   The commerce secretary explained that historically processing times for these types of visas took several weeks and now have stretched to as long as four months in some instances.
   “The U.S. government has already made some tentative progress on improving the situation, but I have also created a departmental task force that will keep national security paramount while working to further improve the business visa process,” Locke said.