GAO urges State to mandate annual Global Repositioning Exercise for visa staffing

The Government Accountability Office's report GAO-26-107902 recommends that the Department of State adopt a policy requiring its Bureau of Consular Affairs to conduct the Global Repositioning Exercise (GREX) each year. GAO says a consistent GREX would help align consular staffing with the workload of nonimmigrant visas (NIVs) and reduce interview wait times.

Visitor-visa adjudications rose to 11.7 million in fiscal year (FY) 2025, surpassing the pre-COVID level of 9.2 million in FY 2019. At the same time, the weighted average wait time for a visa interview climbed from 26 days in FY 2019 to 201 days in FY 2025. Consular officer staffing fell to 904 in FY 2025 after recovering to 1,342 in FY 2024, following a COVID-era low of 1,104 in FY 2021.

GAO's analysis of four high-demand posts - Brazil, China, India and Mexico - shows stark staffing imbalances. In FY 2025, Brazil processed 1,141,235 applications with 87 officers (13,118 applications per officer) and a 32-day wait; China handled 1,206,011 applications with 119 officers (10,135 per officer) and a 34-day wait; India received 1,455,255 applications with 68 officers (21,401 per officer) and a 346-day wait; Mexico saw 2,658,627 applications with 124 officers (21,441 per officer) and a 283-day wait.

Since FY 2019, State has completed only one GREX. The exercise was not performed in FY 2021 and FY 2022 due to COVID-related issues, nor in FY 2024 and FY 2025 because of shifting policy priorities. GAO argues that a formal mechanism would ensure the exercise is carried out consistently, even when workload conditions change rapidly.

The recommendation, listed as Recommendation 1, remains open; the Secretary of State has neither agreed nor disagreed with GAO's suggestion. The review was prompted by a House Committee on Appropriations report and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, which directed GAO to assess consular efficiency, including visa processing times. International tourism contributed $176 billion to the U.S. economy in 2025, underscoring the economic stakes of visa backlogs.