Renewal or new visas to the United States: Ecuadorian people who want to travel or visit relatives will have to wait | Ecuador | News

Michael Fitzpatrick, Ambassador of the United States of Ecuador, understands the plight of dozens of Ecuadorian people who have complained through social networks. Regarding the slowdown in the renewal process for tourist or business visas (B1 and B2), But there is a delay of at least six months in the processing of applications derived from the infection, so ask to understand. For now, emergency cases and priority ones are being actively implemented. “People who want to travel to Disney will have to wait,” the ambassador says.

He added that the closure of his country’s embassy facilities in Ecuador would continue and that the reopening would depend on the epidemic management and vaccination program. He says embassies could reopen if the situation improves, and visa renewal processes will become more active.

Ecuadorian citizens, especially on social media, have complained about the time it takes to renew their tourist and business visas to enter the United States. In fact, many have claimed that direct appointments have been made for 2023 and that they will no longer allow the virtual process, which is too late. Why these delays?

It all depends on the infection. In an epidemic, everyone needs to understand that crisis has new priorities. The embassies in Quito and Guayaquil have long been closed, but at the same time process more than a million visas. We prioritize things like medical emergencies and long-term studies, which means they study in the fall. They will have interviews. Not to visit, to see relatives or to go to Disney, these cases are not emergencies.

It focuses on saving lives, donating life-saving vaccines, and issuing life-saving visas. Medical emergencies and students are a priority, everyone else will have to wait. Now we have a six month delay because we are closed and everyone is asking for reassessment or interviews for new visas, but if it is not an emergency, please be patient.

Reasons why you are denied a US visa

Unfortunately we are still in an epidemic and now we are rearranging ourselves a bit to improve the speed of responses (for updates). In the meantime, I apologize for, above all, patience.

These dates of 2023, 2024 are based on the fact that we are closed, but when we reopen everything (it depends on the epidemic management and vaccination process in the country) we will advance these dates (in advance) to solve the problem of all the passports we already have on hand.

A rumor circulating on social media has worried the people of Ecuador, who have confirmed that the United States has stopped the virtual renewal of visas and that they will be face-to-face, but as of 2023. Have you thought about setting up something similar?

There is a minimum of six months delay for visas here in Ecuador. Now all we want to do is process all the passports we already have, because we do not have much space and, in addition, people tell us that they need their passport for other trips.

We will process each case and we will contact you to let you know if you need an interview. But all of these deal with secondary, priority and focus emergencies. You can make an appointment, yes, but you have to wait a long time. They can make an appointment, yes, but they should be at the end of the queue, please.

There are Ecuadorians who want to go to the United States to be vaccinated against COVID-19 because the vaccination process is progressing slowly in our country, But their visas have expired or they want to get them for the first time. In addition, the United States has encouraged vaccine tourism to revive its economy. Can this be considered a medical emergency?

No. Here are the vaccine donations, here are the vaccines (in Ecuador), there is a vaccination program. (Going to be vaccinated in the United States) There is no reason to avoid the queue of people waiting months for a visa.

We all have a reason to travel, but if it’s not a current medical emergency, you should take your turn. Currently in Ecuador they vaccinate people over the age of 55, they will reduce their age by three or a maximum of four weeks, and the majority of adults in the country will have the opportunity to be vaccinated here in the short term.

On the other hand, if they already have a visa on their hands and want to travel (to be vaccinated in the United States), of course they can, but those without a visa will have to wait. (I)