12 June 2008

Increase in American visa requests slows system

Critics of the American immigration system have said the FBI background checks of people attempting to enter the country are too slow. The Justice Department's watchdog agency said in a report that the checks were unreliable and took too long to process, reports CNN.

General Glenn Fine, Inspector for the Justice Department, said there is limited supervision and training in the American immigration process and "inadequate quality control measures".

"The FBI's name check processes are inefficient and untimely, rely on outdated technology and provide little assurance that pertinent and derogatory information is being retrieved and transmitted to customer agencies," he told the news provider.

Inefficiencies in the process may have stemmed from an increase in requests from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for information about visa applicants. Figures show requests have risen from 2.7 million in 2003 to over 4 million in 2007, indicating that more people are applying for an American visa. In April this year, it was reported that the American immigration services stopped taking H-1B visa applications as it had received the quota for the year.

America needs skilled workers: anyone interested in American immigration should complete the American Visa Bureau's online American visa application to see if they qualify for an American visa.