The Embassy and Consulates of the United States in Brazil announced that they will be open on Saturday to try to reduce the long wait times for American visas.
The announcement was made by Kimberly Kelly, head of visa operations at the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Brazil. Currently, the longest wait time for obtaining the first tourist and business visa (B1/B2) is in São Paulo. Check the wait times at all consulates below:
• São Paulo: 624 days
• Rio de Janeiro: 471 days
• Brasília: 303 days
• Recife: 468 days
• Porto Alegre: 430 days
“We are working tirelessly to provide the best possible experience for Brazilians who wish to travel to the U.S. Our priority is to reduce the wait time for interviews, and we are working on multiple fronts to achieve this — hiring new staff, overtime, and Saturday operations are some of the measures that have been taken. A new Document Delivery Center has also been opened in Recife, which is already operational,” said Kimberly Kelly in a message on the Embassy’s social media.
Faster Renewal
For those with an American visa that expired within the last 48 months and need to renew the document, the wait time is much shorter. Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre are cities where the U.S. consulates have a one-day wait for people who only want to renew it. In Brasília, this wait time is two days. In Recife, it is ten days, and in São Paulo, it is 80 days.