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An Iranian citizen has recently joined my team, and he needs to attend company orientation in either the United States or Switzerland. All things being equal, when applying from Sydney, Australia, which would be the easier and/or faster option?

For avoidance of doubt, I'm pretty sure his visa will be approved in the end since he's quite low risk (Australian permanent resident, solid job at very well known company, all expenses paid etc.), I'm just hoping to minimize the time, expense and hassle involved.

Update: We opted for Switzerland. Literally one day after he joined the company, Trump signed the second executive order banning Iranians for 90 days!

Update 2: The Swiss consulate said processing would take 10 days, the visa was approved in 9. The hardest part of the process was fedexing a signed hard copy of the invitation from Switzerland.

lambshaanxy
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    I'm confused. You're an experienced traveller; you surely know that there are currently huge issues with Iranians visiting the US. Why are you even asking this? – David Richerby Feb 21 '17 at 11:17
  • To the OP's credit, the magnitude of Trump's immigration brouhaha (and its consequences thereof) might not be readily comprehensible to people outside our borders. The thing is incomprehensible and has thrown a severe monkey wrench on many international businesses, in particular small firms with international presence. – luis.espinal Feb 21 '17 at 14:52
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    @davidricherby The comments found below make clear that the visa ban is currently not in effect. While unlikely, it is possible that the US application process is currently faster than the Swiss one - the question seems valid. – Toivo Säwén Feb 21 '17 at 15:07
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    @Toivo With the current US administration that doesn't mean anything. Trump might wake up on the wrong side of the bed again and issue another executive order which would wreak god knows what havoc. Even if it gets overturned, that amount of uncertainty makes the whole thing a non-starter even if it were marginally faster. – Voo Feb 21 '17 at 15:30
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    @ToivoSäwén But there's so much uncertainty about whether the ban will be reinstated. Even if a visa is granted, there could be a new executive order that refuses the employee entry until it, too, is overturned by the courts. – David Richerby Feb 21 '17 at 15:31
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    @luis.espinal I'm outside your borders. "Oh god, Trump's done XYZ" has been the biggest thing in the news most days since his inauguration. – David Richerby Feb 21 '17 at 15:33
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    @DavidRicherby In practice I concur with the sentiment - the problem I have in theory is that this assumes that the Swiss application is a (comparatively) straightforward process, which may or may not be the case. – Toivo Säwén Feb 21 '17 at 15:41
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    @ToivoSäwén such a new executive order has been planned and is in the works, according to the administration. Planning travel to the US is very risky these days; the ability of an Iranian to enter the country is very fragile and cannot be counted on at any specific point in the near future. Any plans to travel to Switzerland, however burdensome the bureaucracy, will be far more stable. – phoog Feb 21 '17 at 17:23

2 Answers2

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Switzerland hands down.

The US is extremely strict in demanding substantial proof of ties to the country of the applicant's residence. Each time they take in an applicant for an interview, their mindset is: "alright, this guy is trying to become an illegal immigrant, unless he convinces me otherwise".

Furthermore, as a Middle Easterner your application is likely (though possibly somewhat less if an Australian PR) to be taken for the dreaded "administrative processing". From then on it could well be months or even a year before you finally get a decision.

Schengen visas, on the other hand, are relatively straightforward: provided you present a credible bona fide itinerary, along with adequate funds for your stay, you will usually get it without much hassle.

So I'd go with Switzerland, definitely

Crazydre
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    I would also add that the US currently doesn't issue visas for Iranians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13769#Visitors.2C_immigrants_and_refugees – JonathanReez Feb 21 '17 at 11:06
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    @JonathanReez The ban is not in force atm – Crazydre Feb 21 '17 at 11:10
  • As far as I understand people with existing visas can go, but new visas are not issued. – JonathanReez Feb 21 '17 at 11:11
  • @JonathanReez When the new ban comes in force, which it hasn't due to judicial instances going out of their way to sabotage Trump's plans – Crazydre Feb 21 '17 at 11:12
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    @JonathanReez New visas are being issued for time being: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/news.html (read to the end) – lambshaanxy Feb 21 '17 at 11:40
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    @JonathanReez the ban is not in force at all pending a court challenge. But the administration has promised to issue a new order this week, so planning travel to the US is definitely ill advised for nationals of Iran and the other six affected countries. – phoog Feb 21 '17 at 13:11
  • This answer could be improved with examples of the proceeds or links to guides etc. –  Feb 22 '17 at 13:52
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Belated answer to my own question:

As Crazydre correctly states, Switzerland is almost certainly the easier option and that's what we went with.

However, he ended up applying for a US visa for a second trip, and long story short, while it took about two months to process and requires a bit of paperwork (translations of exemption from military service etc), he received the US visa on the first attempt and there were no notable complications along the way. So it's by no means impossible for Iranians to visit the US.

lambshaanxy
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