AEM Testifies at Congressional Hearing on Visa Approval Delays
April 10, 2006 -- The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) testified at an April 4 hearing of the House Committee on Government Reform that focused on the business impact of visa-approval delays and solicited recommendations for process improvements.
In testimony, AEM President Dennis Slater commended the federal government's focus on border security but encouraged the State Department to implement more business-friendly policies that would eliminate current inconsistent and arbitrary procedures. This action, he said, would bring more overseas customers into the
AEM represents the off-road equipment manufacturing industry (construction, agriculture, forestry, mining and utility). It operates some of the largest trade exhibitions in the
“Our international attendance at recent shows would have been much higher, but many qualified business prospects encountered significant problems obtaining visas,” Slater said. “Some in delegations became so discouraged over the delays and perceived rude treatment that they dropped out of the process. They told us they would never come to the
Among AEM's recommendations to the House committee were to differentiate business applicant procedures from general ones and to implement additional time-saving processes for frequent international business visitors (which include trade show attendees). Other suggestions offered were to allocate more staff to high-applicant posts and provide more training, prepare applicants better for the focus of the visa interview, and to make the process more transparent and accountable.
In his testimony, Slater noted that smaller and medium-size exhibitors at AEM-run exhibitions are particularly affected by visa delays. These companies rely on trade shows as an important option to reach many potential customers at one time, especially to showcase large non-consumer products such as construction machines.
“Our industry's customers want to ‘kick the tires' just as an automobile buyer would, and it's not feasible for smaller companies to ship a piece of equipment overseas for pre-purchase inspection or to fly in many potential customers themselves,” he said.
Slater told of an AEM focus on attracting Chinese and Indian customers to its exhibitions because of growing interest in these markets by association members, and he provided documented evidence of visa-approval problems for its CONEXPO-CON/AGG show as well as anecdotal evidence for its ICUEE-The Demo Expo and World of Asphalt exhibitions.
Slater described numerous instances of visa approval problems encountered by potential trade show attendees, despite extensive efforts by AEM staff -- both in the
AEM documented a 20-percent refusal rate for CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2005, which Slater called “far too high” and which showed a great deal of variability among consulates and patterns of refusal by gender and age (more men approved than women and more older people approved than younger).
The association has stepped up its efforts in the past few years to increase government awareness of the negative business impact of current visa policies. This includes cooperative efforts with the International Association for Exposition Management (IAEM). AEM's Slater is a past chairman of IAEM.
