VISITOR Act

The VISITOR Act redirects specific visa-related fees - such as those from Diplomatic Programs and Fraud Prevention accounts - to fund consular services aimed at reducing visa processing times. It requires the State Department to transfer unobligated fee balances to the Consular and Border Security Programs account to support these services. The bill sets a concrete goal: ensuring 80% of nonimmigrant visa applicants receive interviews within three weeks of applying, while allowing exceptions for security or resource constraints. This directly affects nonimmigrant visa applicants (e.g., tourists, business travelers) by potentially speeding up their processing. The policy change focuses on reallocating existing fee collections, not creating new visa categories or altering eligibility.