#visa-appointments

#visa-appointments

When the 2026 FIFA World Cup arrives in North America, it will be one of the largest travel moments in modern history. The expanded 48-team tournament will bring matches to cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico -and with them, millions of international fans booking flights, reserving hotel rooms, and building itineraries around match days. For the US, that translates to a massive tourism surge: millions of visitors converging on 11 cities from New York and Miami to Los Angeles and Seattle.

The backlog in visa appointments dates to the Trump administration's pause on all student visa interviews in late May, after which the government began mandating social media reviews for all F-1 visa applicants. Some experts argue that the mandatory social media reviews have also extended the visa process by adding more responsibilities to the workload of consulate staff. Since then, experts have speculated about how significant the drop in international student enrollment will be this fall.