Why does it take so long to process visa applications?

Question

I don't understand why student/business visa processing takes so long. Why can't they just analyze the applications automatically and give out visa's within a couple of minutes? After all, we're living in the 21st century and everything can be processed by computers.

Answer 1

People still have to look it over as computers are still not very good at detecting fraud. And there are just not enough staff.

In the USA, for getting a visa like an H-1B, you can pay an extra fee to get faster service. About $1,000.00 extra will get you faster service. And no, this is not a bribe. The money goes to the US government.

Answer 2

Because people make the decisions, not computers.  We use the computer to help find facts, inconsistencies, omissions, previous applications, etc.  But, a human makes the decision and looks at all the facts and the person involved.

Answer 3

Because there are hundreds and thousands of people applying for visas every single day and every single application needs to have a quick back ground check - and those do take time.

How can you be so arrogant to assume that you are entitled to special treatment? You are NOT. You get treated exactly the same as everyone else.