EAs organising their executives’ travel to the US will now have to spend longer on visa applications, thanks to a new set of reforms from the Trump administration.
Nearly all visa applications have become more complicated, after the US State Department imposed stricter regulations on all visitors — including business travellers.
The reforms will force entrants to supply social media handles from various platforms, including Linkedin, Youtube, Facebook and Instagram. The application will also require a list of visitors’ phone numbers and email addresses from the past five years, international travel and deportation status, as well as family members’ potential terrorist links.
EAs will now need all this information on-hand when submitting an application for their bosses, as the changes will affect almost all visa applicants (with official and diplomatic visas the only exemptions).
“National security is our top priority when adjudicating visa applications, and every prospective traveller and immigrant to the United States undergoes extensive security screening,” said the department.
This latest change is part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which the mainstream media reports as having a serious impact on the number of internationals visiting the US — dubbed the “Trump Slump”.
14.7 million people now have to hand over the extra information; nearly 37 percent of the total number of international visitors to the US (2018 data).
Visa Waivers
Visitors from countries listed in the State Department’s Visa Waiver Program (which includes New Zealand, the UK, Australia and many European nations), will still have to provide their social media handles, phone and email information as part of their application.
