The Migration Policy Institute, a pro-immigration think tank, has released a report last week on visa policy changes since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.  The report suggests that in order for nonimmigrant tourists and visitors to enjoy their time in the US, the country has to loosen the rules for visas.  The reports points out that many administrative procedures have changed significantly, including a requirement for personal interviews with almost all visa applicants. The government has more closely scrutinized visa waiver countries, curtailed airline passengers’ ability to travel through the U.S. en route to other countries without visas, and established requirements for visa waiver countries to have machine-readable passports with biometric identifiers by October 1, 2005.

The authors of the MPI report recommend changes to clarify the application process and make it more transparent; facilitate visa re-issuance from the United States; and waive interviews for travelers who have been issued visas recently. The authors also recommend improving the quality of interviews through the use of a secondary-like inspection at consular posts to target possible security risks.  The report states that improved intelligence-gathering, greater investments in staff expertise and training, and online access to all relevant information about applicants are essential, because a major weakness continues to be variable access to information through different agencies’ databases.

The report states that a  challenge will be countering international perceptions that the United States has become more hostile to visitors.

The report can be found on the web at http://www.migrationpolicy.org/.