Shivanshu Vyas attended a friendly hosted by Manchester United at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in 2018. That was the moment he knew he had to go to the United States for the World Cup.
Courtesy of Shivanshu Vyas
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Courtesy of Shivanshu Vyas
Shivanshu Vyas has dreamed of going to the United States for the World Cup for a long time.
In fact, he has been counting the days since 2018 when he watched his favorite soccer team, Manchester United, play a friendly at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. For the 32-year-old, being in that great American stadium was nothing short of amazing.
“As soon as I saw the green grass, it really gave me goosebumps. And I was a little teary-eyed, not going to lie,” he recalled with a laugh.
But there’s one big obstacle that could stand in his way: Getting a visa on time.
Many fans around the world will likely experience the same problem. The tournament is hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada and is considered the biggest global sporting event after the Paris Olympics.
However, not only is it difficult to obtain a US visa, but the immigration system is so overloaded that many fans may not be able to get a visa in time even though the tournament is less than two years away.
Visa waiting time in Bogotá? 677 days
The wait for a tourist visa interview in New Delhi can be as long as 386 days. It’s even worse in some other places with big soccer fan bases. Take Bogotá, Colombia, for example. current waiting time It could take up to 677 days to interview with a consular officer — longer than the 664 days remaining before the tournament begins.
This is setting off alarm bells — from people in the soccer world to members of Congress. A bipartisan group of 21 senators led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., issued a letter this month urged the Biden administration to establish a “White House Task Force on Global Sports Events.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (left) and CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani (right) pose with the FIFA World Cup trophy during an event in New York on June 16, 2022.
YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
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YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
The United States will host three major events in the coming years — the men’s soccer World Cup, followed by the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
The group of senators said speeding up immigration wait times should be a top priority.
“We encourage your Administration to set a goal of reducing wait times to less than 31 days for 80 percent of applicants by the end of 2025,” the senators wrote.
Meanwhile, FIFA, the international soccer association that oversees the event, said it was working with multiple US government parties on issues including security and immigration.
“We recognize the urgency of these issues and the role they play in delivering a successful event that attracts millions of visitors from around the world,” FIFA said in a statement to NPR.
Millions of fans are expected to attend… if they can get here.
The next World Cup will be the biggest ever as it will expand from 32 teams to 48. FIFA predicts that millions of fans will attend the 2026 World Cup, many of them from all over the world.
On online forums, fans have begun expressing frustration over the difficulties in obtaining US visas.
The United States has a visa waiver program with 41 countries, but many more countries require a B1/B2 tourist visa.
But the pandemic backlog combined with a continued surge in tourist visa applications has overwhelmed the processing capacity of some U.S. consulates and embassies.
The long waits even affected those in the tournament’s co-host countries, reaching 476 days in Mexico City and up to 850 days for foreign residents in Ottawa.
You must apply for the visa now, even though it is still 2 years away.
That means many people need to rush to apply now, even before they know which countries are eligible or where they will play.
There are workarounds to reduce wait times, but they aren’t easy. They include checking in online to get an earlier spot if someone cancels.
The Foreign Office said it was encouraging those wishing to attend the Games to “apply now”.
The agency also said it has significantly reduced wait times over the past two years and issued more B1/B2 visas than ever before in the first half of fiscal year 2024.
A Cuban with his papers lines up at the U.S. Embassy in Havana on May 3, 2022. The U.S. immigration system takes a long time to get a visa.
YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
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YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
Immigration has long been a hot issue.
Travis Murphy, CEO of Jetr Global Sports + Entertainment, an immigration consulting firm that helps athletes travel to sports tournaments and events around the world, said the United States needs to urgently address the visa backlog.
Other countries that have recently hosted the World Cup have implemented fast-track immigration systems for visitors. Qatar, for example, has offered a simplified visa process for anyone with tickets to the 2022 tournament.
But Murphy is aware of the challenges facing the United States. Temporarily simplifying visa procedures for the World Cup is politically sensitive, given tensions around immigration.
“For fast-track passes to be applicable, there has to be a reasonable assumption that fans attending have no intention of immigrating,” said Murphy, who noted that previous host countries like Russia or South Africa have not seen many people wanting to visit or immigrate.
“That doesn’t happen in the United States or Canada,” he added, fearing that some people could use the World Cup to enter the country and never leave.
Murphy said the United States could also consider appointing a sports envoy like John Kerry on climate. For Murphy, that level of attention is essential.
“We bid for this,” Murphy said. “We, as a country, said, come to our country. We want to host this event.”
Tourist visa is not easy to get
Back in India, Vyas seemed to have some leeway, as the wait was only about a year, not as bad as in places like Colombia.
But getting one can be extremely difficult, and there’s still no guarantee he’ll be able to get it in time.
First, Vyas may need to find a steady job. He is currently self-employed, providing engineering consulting services. Applying for a tourist visa typically requires a letter from an employer stating that the applicant has a steady job tied to their home country.
Applicants can also demonstrate that they have a steady income from self-employment but additional documentation is required.
Vyas’ situation is also a bit more complicated because he studied in the US and tried unsuccessfully to stay permanently by applying for a work visa.
The consular officer may see this as a problem and refuse to issue him a tourist visa.
A double whammy for this super fan
Being denied a tourist visa would be a blow to Vyas, a big fan of the sport. In 2006, he won a contest run by ESPN that awarded the winner a trip to work as a ball boy at a World Cup match in Germany.
Unfortunately, he did not have a passport at the time — and was unable to obtain one in time.
The missed opportunity to travel to Germany still haunts him.
Vyas missed out on going to the World Cup in Germany in 2006. He could also miss out on going to the United States in 2026 — unless he can get a visa in time.
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So going to the 2026 World Cup to see German stars like Kai Havertz would be a sporting dream come true.
But first, he needs to get a visa.
“I have positive energy,” he said. “I still have two years left for it, so I guess I have enough time.”
Vyas still has time, for now. But time is ticking away and for some fans, it may already be too late.
