Visa operations report

(a) In general Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on visa backlogs. (b) Elements The report required under subsection (a) shall address— (1) the status of visa backlogs and wait times, including internal and external recommendations to streamline and improve consular processes, as required by the joint exploratory statement for the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024 (division F of Public Law 118–47), including the rationale and justification for the implementation of each such recommendation; (2) the impact of reductions in force on improvement of the overall efficiency of consular operations, processing time, and customer experience for applicants; (3) the extent to which non-consular Department personnel have been used to improve the overall efficiency of consular operations, processing time, and customer experience for applicants during periods of high demand; (4) the viability of temporarily assigning non-consular Department personnel during periods of high demand; and (5) in consultation with any other appropriate Department, an evaluation of the impact of the visa backlogs on the United States tourism industry and recommendations for how to remediate those impacts. (c) Appropriate committees of Congress defined In this subsection, the term appropriate committees of Congress means— (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Judiciary of the Senate; and (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Judiciary of the House of Representatives.