The big ugly bill strikes again.
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Well, I suppose, if you can afford flying to Shiny-land and wandering around for a week, you can afford another $250.
Steveā¦has dropped $1200 for two days in Oshkosh
(kneeling, on the right, in the white shirt. the party bus is in the background)
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DH and I used to fly our Cessna (first 150 then 177) to Oskhosh and camp under the wing every year in the 1990s. We attended the 1990 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain which was spectacular in the amazing collection of World War 2 warbirds from England, Germany and the U.S. as well as the āAngel and Devilā display of the white Concorde nose-to-nose with the black B-1 bomber.
The evening shows had World War 2 era music and movies for the anniversary celebration.
I hope you had a great time at the Fly-in.
Wendy
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I like my comfort. We flew from Willow Run, in metro Detroit, direct to Oshkosh, in the Gooney Bird. The museum had a block of rooms at a hotel in Appleton, and provided transportation to and from the airport. I would go again, but the museum hasnāt done a trip to Oshkosh since 2021. They did a trip to Mackinac Island last October. I havenāt been to the island since 64, but October can be pretty frosty that far north.
Steve
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I am sure that illegals who overstay their tourist visa on purpose will think twice about such a plan.
But then they can get $1000 to self-deport.
DB2
All told, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the new [$250 visa] fee could cut the federal deficit by $28.9 billion over the next ten years. During the same period, the CBO expects the Department of the State to issue about 120 million nonimmigrant visas. ā¦ The new U.S. Visa Integrity Fee will impact visitors to the U.S. coming to be part of FIFA and the Summer Olympics, making it just that much more expensive to attend.
Surely, $250 is a small incremental price to pay in order to be admitted to visit godās own country.
Did the CBO also estimate the loss in tourism-related revenues the fee may cause?
CBO also expects the Department of State would need several years to implement a process for providing reimbursements.
Wondering whether there will be a āreimbursement processing feeā (suggestion: $249) attached once it comes online.
However, critics argue that the fee is misguided and counterproductive. Geoff Freeman, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, has warned that the charge acts like a āself-imposed tariffā on international travelers. He notes that it could discourage legitimate visitors, including students and tourists, from choosing the U.S. altogether, as other countries compete for global travelers and aim to offer more friendly and affordable systems.
Someone tell Mr Freeman to stay in his lane. Contrary to tariffs on imported goods, here indeed foreigners will pay the bill.
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Yes, and like tariffs, maybe other countries will impose fees on US citizens entering their countries, effecting even more isolationism. Great idea!
Pete
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$250 isnāt enough to deter people from overstaying their visas if that is their intention. It is simply harassment of legitimate foreign travelers.
This is an example of bureaucracy drunk on xenophobia.
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Agreed. The cost of applying for the visa is already high (and no guarantee it will be granted). 1poorSIL has a US visa that will expire within about a year, and theyāre questioning whether they should try to renew it. She never overstayed, but our current capricious ICE/Administration might deny her anyway just to be mean.
Overstay of visas is the number one source of illegal immigration. Many people think itās people that sneak across the border, but it isnāt. Not even close, really. People get valid visas, and then just never go home.
I have no data, but Iām wondering how tourism will be affected by this xenophobic administration. I know the US does about $200B of tourism business, and Iāve read some projections that because of the xenophobia, theyāre expecting at least a 10% drop from that level. I donāt know how reliable those projections are.
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Itās an example of a regime intent on shaking as much money out of āothersā as possible, to cover another tax cut for āJCsā.
Steve
There is profit to be made in collecting a renewal fee. They may hope she overstays, so they can toss her in the clink and hold her for ransom.
Steve
Letās see -
the Congressional Budget Office estimates the new [$250 visa] fee could cut the federal deficit by $28.9 billion over the next ten years.
(apparently assuming that very few people will get reimbursed, wondering whether they took into account impact on tourism-related revenues, and the added cost of the bureaucracy needed to support the promised reimbursement process)
vs.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill could add $3.3tn to federal deficits over the next 10 years and leave millions without health coverage.
So the billās provision, at best, will contribute a whopping 0.87% to the billās overall cost. Cut another few 30 billions here and there, raise a few more tariffs paid by your consumers and you might actually get somewhereā¦
The Americans with their heads in the sand donāt go anywhere but to a resort in Mexico.
Less air traffic would be a good outcome.
I do not face this in the EU even if they institute it. I have EU citizenship. Let them eat cake.
Here are some things to consider -
- āAmid the presidentās immigration crackdown, travel bans and sweeping global tariffs, the U.S. is expected to be the only one out of 184 countries to see foreign visitor spending fall in 2025, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.ā
- āBased on the research firmās original projections, the U.S. economy was expected to gain $16.3 billion in revenue, according to an analysis by Forbes . Instead, the total deficit may be as high as $28.8 billion.ā
Booyah, weāre gaining $29 billion over ten years to lose $29 billion in one year!
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On the other hand, revenues from the tariffs are up considerably ā $103 billion compared to $49 billion last year (through July 18).
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/tariff-tracker/
DB2
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Oh, I thought we were talking about how undesirable the US has become to foreign tourists / visitors and how slapping a $250 fee on them is counterproductive.
But yeah, tariffs are up.
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You are right. Related but different.
DB2
Thatās for sure: both involve dollars (or, soon maybe bitcoin?).
Pete
Counterproductive is putting it mildly. Imagine if NYC put a $250 ācover chargeā just to enter the city. How many tourists would just say āEh, Iāll go somewhere else.ā
Thatās a lot of hotel revenue and maid service not used, taxicab fares not paid, restaurant meals not eaten, broadway show tickets not bought, and all the rest that fuels the tourist industry. And, I daresay, if someone does pay the $250, I suspect many will spend less than they otherwise would have.
If your business in any way depends on tourism from abroad, this is a major poke in the eye. And it wonāt just be New York, itāll be Gatlinburg and Chicago and towns all along the Canadian border, itāll be Mt. Rushmore and Vegas and San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Itāll be attendees to the FIFA World Cup (assuming it stays here), itāll be the Superbowls and the Summer Olympics and all the other sporting events that would have drawn lots of foreign travel. Will they still sell out? Probably, but theyāll be recycling US dollars instead of getting foreign dollars, so itās a net loss for the country.
I would guess there are lots of conventions and conferences which draw participation from foreigners, and Iām sure that will diminish as well.
The sad part is the however much the $250 ācover chargeā raises will be trumpeted to the skies by Dr Bob & similar, while the losses, spread across so many industries and geographies will just disappear into the āoh well, try harder next yearā category.
Itās kind of like a tariff here, except itās on humans instead of products. It will have similar deleterious effects, thatās for sure.
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