US opens 2.5L visa interviews in India amid surging demand
Saurabh.Sinha@timesofindia.com 01.10.2024
New Delhi : The US embassy has opened an additional 2.5 lakh visa appointments for Indian citizens to “facilitate timely interviews and streamline the travel process.” The US has been taking a number of steps since late 2021 to cut waiting period for interviews, following a postCovid surge in visa applications across all categories. But the sheer volumes meant a waiting period of over a year for interview required for visitor visa in many US missions in India.
However, there has been a significant improvement from a wait of almost three years witnessed in end-2021. This year, for instance, a record number of student visas has been issued, for the fourth time in a row. While the exact number is not yet known, it is more than the over 1.4 lakh student visas issued last year — which was the most for any country globally then. “During our student visa season this (2024) summer, we processed record numbers, and all firsttime student applicants were able to obtain an appointment at one of our five consular sections around India,” the US Embassy said Monday.
The 2.5 lakh visa appointments were opened as the US missions in India crossed 10 lakh nonimmigrant visa applications for the second consecutive year. Over 12 lakh Indians travelled to the US in 2024, representing a 35% increase from the same period in 2023. And 60 lakh Indians hold valid non-immigrant visas, with thousands more being issued daily, the embassy said. Speaking about the collaborative efforts between PM Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden to expedite the visa process, US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said: “PM Modi and President Biden set an ambitious goal to improve and expedite the visa process and we have delivered on that promise. Our consular teams at the embassy and four consulates work tirelessly to ensure that we meet the surging demand.”
The US visa demand is so high that the wait period for an interview-required visitor visa was 477 days in Kolkata, 466 in Delhi, 433 in Chennai, 352 in Hyderabad and 312 in Mumbai (as on last Thursday as per US State Dept website).
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