Executive Order 13597: Establishing Visa and Foreign Visitor Processing Goals and the Task Force On Travel and Competitiveness
President: Barack Obama
Set short-term visa-processing goals and created a cabinet task force to develop a national travel strategy.
Status: Completed/expired. Is Executive Order 13597 still in effect? No. Executive Order 13597 is completed or expired. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 13597 do?
EO 13597 linked faster, secure visa processing with tourism and export growth. It directed an increase in nonimmigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil, an 80 percent three-week interview goal and expanded interview-waiver efforts, while creating a Commerce-Interior task force. The task force delivered the first National Travel and Tourism Strategy in 2012. Commerce still identifies the order as authority, but its numeric deadlines are historical and later strategies set current goals.
Before and after
Before the order
Post-recession tourism policy and visa operations lacked a single cabinet-level competitiveness plan with numeric 2012 goals.
After the order
Agencies expanded capacity, pursued interview waivers and produced a government-wide tourism strategy.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| State Department | Improve visa capacity and wait times consistent with security | Continuing under current law and operations |
| Travel and Competitiveness Task Force | Deliver national strategy | Completed in 2012 |
| Commerce National Travel and Tourism Office | Coordinate current tourism policy and strategy | Continuing |
What happened next
EO 13597 issued.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The Immigration and Nationality Act controls eligibility, security screening and consular decisions. The order directed management and coordination within existing law and appropriations.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 15, 2026. How we research →