US to Launch Paperless Visas

The landscape of US visas is making a shift towards a ‘paperless’ system, effectively doing away with the conventional practice of stamping or affixing visas to passport pages.

In a recent milestone, the Biden administration successfully concluded a pilot project for “paperless visas” at the US diplomatic mission in Dublin. This innovative digital visa system is poised for gradual implementation, heralding a substantial departure from the traditional visa processing approach.

Julie Stufft, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, shed light on this groundbreaking development. She explained, “We conducted our initial small-scale pilot of a paperless visa, wherein the visa application process remains the same, but there’s no physical visa within the passport. This pilot was a first-time endeavor, signaling that widespread adoption won’t happen in the coming year.”

Addressing the timeline for the initiation of the ‘paperless visa’ process, Stufft remarked, “It will likely take us 18 months or more to achieve widespread use. However, the excitement lies in taking this initial step where we’ve witnessed visitors, in this case, immigrant visas, without a physical paper in their passports.”

Looking ahead, Stufft envisioned the future implementation of an app or similar technology that enables individuals to showcase their visa status without relying on a physical paper in their passport. She expressed great enthusiasm about this forthcoming transition, aligning with practices already in place in some other countries.

Discussing the execution of the digital visa process, Stufft revealed, “Following the successful small pilot, we are now extending our efforts to other visa categories. We chose to initiate this at our embassy in Dublin due to the presence of an airport facility with US officials capable of verification before boarding. The plan is to gradually expand this approach regionally and globally, taking it step by step.”