Ambassador
Op-Ed
July 11, 2007
"KNOWING EACH OTHER IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP"
By Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne
This week over 220 girls from throughout Argentina who are celebrating their 15th Birthday with a trip to the United States will come to the US Embassy for their visas. We are glad these youngsters will be with us today and delighted that they have chosen the US as the place to celebrate this important occasion.
There is a lot to see and do in the US and your visit is very important to us. We think it’s in the long-term interests of both our countries to know each other better, and the best way to do that is through travel – whether it be for study, business, tourism, or on an exchange program. Even though our peoples are already linked in an excellent bilateral relationship, ranging from culture, education, arts, and science and technology to trade and tourism, we want to deepen those ties. Last year, over 250,000 Americans visited Argentina and over 200,000 Argentines visited the US.
Between Tuesday, July 10 and Friday, July 13, the Embassy is marking "Visit USA Week" during which we will sponsor a number of activities designed to send this simple message: "We welcome you and will do whatever we can to help you visit the US."
Our Consular chief will be reaching out to media throughout the country to talk about the visa process; we will conduct webchats with audiences throughout Argentina; we will sponsor a contest among university student teams for the best “Visit USA” publicity campaign; and we will try to demystify the visa process by explaining how simple and fast it is.
I would like to highlight that the U.S. welcomes all Argentines who want to visit us. At times the visa application process is not well understood, so we take this opportunity to present some facts about obtaining a US visa in Argentina:
- Visa applicants are typically able to obtain a date for a visa interview within two days of requesting an interview.
- Over 90% of visa applicants in Argentina successfully receive a visa as a result of the interview.
- Applicants ordinarily receive their visas by mail within 3 days of the visa interview.
- Some applicants may spend a total of 2-3 hours at the Embassy. The vast majority of the applicants receive multiple-entry visas that are valid for ten years.
- Demand for visas increased by over 10% last year and based on current projections is likely to increase by over 10% this year.
- Our customer service surveys show that 86% of visa applicants have found our consular officers to be polite or very polite. Our goal is to increase that percentage of satisfaction, and we´re working to improve the visa process, while we abide by U.S. legal requirements.
We are pleased that so many Argentines want to visit us, and we want to encourage even more visits, similar to the large number of U.S. citizens who enjoy their stay in Argentina. And I wish to underscore that it´s through the growing contact between our two peoples that we build better understanding between our nations, overcoming prejudice and stereotypes, helping our countries face the challenges that lie ahead, while we sow prosperity and broader opportunities for both.
For more information on the best way to do this, check our website. If you’d like to log onto the webchat on July 11, log on to the following address:
http://spanish.argentina.usembassy.gov
We look forward to your visit.