03/05/07: Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty Remarks to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Istanbul, Turkey

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty
Remarks to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce
Istanbul, Turkey As Prepared for Delivery
March 5, 2007
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

It is an honor for me to be here today and to have the opportunity to discuss some of the efforts of the department of state to facilitate legitimate tourist and business travel.  We share your interest in maintaining and expanding a vibrant relationship between the united states and turkey to the benefit of both of our nations.   Turkey and the united states enjoy a long and rich and deep relationship.  Just this morning, i had the pleasure of visiting a display at our consulate here of documents, artifacts and memorabilia chronicling our consular relationship.  The united states has had a diplomatic presence in istanbul since 1831, when commodore david porter exchanged letters with the reis effendi (“race ef-fen-di”) of the ottoman empire.  In those days, much of our work involved protecting u.s. shipping and seamen, and we’ve been working to facilitate business travel ever since. 

With a history dating from 1882 and over 300,000 members, the istanbul chamber of commerce (“ito”) is one of the oldest chambers of commerce in the world, and has a long history of supporting international exchange.  I am pleased that the ito enjoys good ties with our consulate here.  I am delighted to have this chance to visit with you.

I came to istanbul to take part in a conference of consular officers working throughout the region.  Tomorrow I’ll travel to ankara for bilateral consular conversations.  But i also wanted to take the opportunity to meet with business leaders here.  I appreciate the chance to hear what’s on your minds and to tell you a little bit about us.

If the bureau of consular affairs were a private business, we would probably rank among the “fortune 1,000” companies.  We have 8,600 employees working in 65 languages in 219 “branch offices” – namely our embassies and consulates around the world, as well as in washington and in 17 passport agencies and two visa processing centers across the united states.  Last year we took in $1.3 billion in revenue.  We use almost no appropriated fees, but instead use consular receipts to fund our activities.

We do work that is fundamental to the mission of the department of state.  Our mission is to protect the lives and interests of American citizens overseas, and to protect u.s. border security and the freedom to travel through the conscientious adjudication of u.s. passports and visas. 

Our work spans the very cycle of life, from documenting new American citizens, to helping make the final arrangements to return a deceased American back to our country.  But we can be no less conscientious in our efforts with respect to foreign nationals and the visa process.

And turkey and her citizens represent a critical, and growing, portion of our workload.  Two-way travel is expanding fast.  There are 7,500 Americans living in turkey.  The number of American tourists jumped from 289,300 to 435,000 between 2004 and 2005, and is expected to top 500,000 this year.  Last year united states consuls abroad issued over 3.3 million tourist and business visas worldwide.  We issued 34,566 in turkey alone, an 8% increase from fiscal year 2005.  Over 11,000 turkish students are studying in the united states, making turkey the number one european source country for international students in the u.s., and the eighth worldwide. 

The context for our efforts with regard to visa procedures continues to be, quite simply, september 11th.  On that terrible day, when so many Americans, and citizens from 90 other nations, including turkey, lost their lives, we saw the lengths to which some would go to do us harm.  I think that all people of good will can appreciate that we had to act swiftly and decisively to address our nation’s border security needs.  We wanted to do the right thing to make our citizens and foreign visitors safer. 

While security must always be our primary concern, we have never forgotten that welcoming visitors to the united states is central to our well-being and national security.  Foreign visitors account for nearly $105 billion in spending and other economic activity in the united states annually.  One in every eight civilian jobs in the united states is linked directly or indirectly to the travel and tourism industry.  International students contribute an additional $13 billion each year to our national bottom line. 

But beyond those metrics that surely are important for our nation, we know that we need to remain the welcoming nation that we have been historically because the best advertisement for america is america.  It is essential that we provide visitors with a positive experience because that experience has incalculable influence in shaping impressions and opinions of our nation and our people.  Keeping our national welcome mat out is a matter of national security, and one of the best ways to enhance our relationship with other countries.

The challenge of securing our borders while keeping our doors open is not an easy one, but i firmly believe that these objectives are not contradictory.  We can and must do both.  We strive constantly to strike the right balance between protecting america’s borders and preserving america’s welcome to legitimate visitors. 

One year ago, the secretaries of state and homeland security launched the “Rice-Chertoff joint vision:  secure borders and open doors in the information age” as a commitment to striking that balance.  This initiative aims to improve:

• The efficiency, predictability and transparency of the visa process;
• The security of u.s. passports and other travel documents; and
• The u.s. government’s ability to screen visa applicants and travelers who arrive at our borders.

we have implemented several enhancements to facilitate international travel.  For example:

• Visa applicants use an electronic visa application form that reduces errors, eliminates duplicative data entry and – here’s the bottom line – increases the number of applicants consular staff can interview daily;
• Our washington-based business visa center  handled almost 2,800 requests from American businesses for information and assistance in cases involving over 139,000 business travelers in 2006;
• We have introduced a web-based visa appointment system and we post appointment wait times on-line, so applicants know what to expect;
• We have added 570 new consular positions to handle visa demand.

These efforts have produced results.  Our metrics are positive across the board.  Visitor visa issuances around the world in FY 2006 rose 8 percent over the previous year, with business/tourist visa issuances increasing by 12 percent.  We issued an all-time high of 591,000 student and exchange visitor visas in FY 2006.  Visa processing delays have been cut dramatically:  98 percent of all qualified applicants are approved within two days of their visa interview. 

For turkey, our total visitor visa issuances last year were up ten percent over FY 2005, and student and exchange visas rose 18 percent.  We are meeting this growing demand.  Appointment wait times are less than a week in both istanbul and ankara.  Over 85 percent of turkish citizens who seek a u.s. visa receive one.  We have put the structures in place to ensure the visa process is not the daunting ordeal you may have seen or heard portrayed in the press.  We have “turned the corner.”  Visa demand is on the rise in turkey, and is surging in places like china, india, brazil and mexico.  Clearly, travelers are seeking to come to the united states, and we will help them get there. 

To meet this demand, we will over the next two years turn to technology and proven best practices to introduce further enhancements, such as:

• A start-to-finish paperless, electronic visa process;
• A centralized visa appointment system to enable every NIV applicant to be scheduled for an appointment within 30 days a standard we already meet at the majority of our posts; and
• Remote data collection and interview via digital video conference.

Now that I’ve given you the big picture of what we have done and plan to do to facilitate travel worldwide, i’d like to highlight briefly what we’re doing specifically to assist travelers in turkey.  We make special accommodations for business travelers at our consulate general in istanbul and the embassy in ankara.  

Both posts have established a group appointment system to allow pre-authorized groups priority access to visa appointments.  Businesses whose employees travel frequently to the united states, such as airlines and shipping companies, participate in this program.  We also use this system to handle the large volume of visas from turkish participants in the u.s. summer work and travel program.  We issued 3,931 visas last year for turkish citizens to participate in this program for young people to gain work experience in the united states.

Individual turkish visa applicants can obtain visa appointments easily, normally within a few days or a week.  We recognize, however, that business travelers may need to travel on very short notice to close a deal.  In such cases, urgent business travelers can obtain an appointment the next business day. 

I want to stress that this service is available to employees and managers of all businesses, including small and medium-sized ones.  You don’t have to be affiliated with a major corporation to apply for and obtain a u.s. visa.  The united states welcomes all legitimate travelers.

Despite the initiatives we have taken, and despite the u.s. visa issuance and demand numbers, there are still those who say that the visa process discourages travelers from seeking to come to the united states.  I regret that very much, particularly given what has been done by my colleagues all over turkey, at each of our consulates and the embassy.

We need to dispel misperceptions.  As we continue to implement our plans to improve visa processing in turkey and throughout the world, we will continue to welcome your suggestions for how we can better support legitimate travelers.  At the same time, we will depend upon you to help get our message out to legitimate travelers:  America wants you and we welcome you.

I hope these remarks have been helpful.  Now I would be happy to take questions.

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