Visa Wait Time

Shedding light on visa appointments and the waiting time concerning them, the US envoy to India, Eric Garcetti, said that President Joe Biden told him to bring down the waiting time for it in India.

The US Consular Team in India processed a record 1.4 million US visas in 2023, which is higher than ever, and has brought down the visitor visa appointment wait times by 75 per cent.

During the 2022-23 academic year, the number of Indian students studying in the US increased by 35 per cent hitting an all-time high of over 268,000.

International tourist arrivals remain at 26% below pre-pandemic levels, according to a June 2023 monthly report from the US Travel Association, with spending slower, too.

The consular teams of the US have been making a "huge push" to process as many visa applications as possible in India, US Department of State official spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press briefing on Thursday.

Describing India as an important partner wherein people-to-people relationship plays a significant role, top US lawmakers have urged the Biden Administration to address the visa wait time issue in India on a priority basis.

The long and agonizing wait for Green Cards for people from India, China, Mexico and the Philippines is mainly due to the country-based quota system in its allocation which can be changed only by the US Congress, a senior official has said.

Reducing the wait time for US visas for Indians is not the "10th or 11th priority" but the "number one priority", the new US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti told NDTV on Thursday.

The US Mission to India, the four consulates and the embassy, is on track to process more than a million visas this year, Jennifer Larson, US Consul General Hyderabad, said on Wednesday.

The wait time for a US visitor's visa interview in India has been reduced by 60 per cent this year, a senior official has said, attributing it to several steps the United States has taken.

The US has deployed temporary visa officers to help with the visa operations in Mumbai and reduce the wait time. Consular officers from around the world have left their regular duties for this purpose, the US Consulate in Mumbai said in a tweet.

"As I look at the relationship, it strikes me that people-to-people ties between our two nations are really the bedrock of what is one of our most consequential relationships in the world and that's the US-India relationship," they said.

To cut delays in processing visas, the US recently launched new initiatives, including scheduling special interviews for first time applicants and increasing the strength of consular staff.

The US is "putting every ounce of its energy" to eliminate the long visa wait time in India, including sending a cadre of consular officers to the country and opening up its other overseas embassies as far away as Germany and Thailand.

The US is making every effort to reduce the waiting time for a visa interview appointment in India, a top State Department official has said.

Shedding light on visa appointments and the waiting time concerning them, the US envoy to India, Eric Garcetti, said that President Joe Biden told him to bring down the waiting time for it in India.

The US Consular Team in India processed a record 1.4 million US visas in 2023, which is higher than ever, and has brought down the visitor visa appointment wait times by 75 per cent.

During the 2022-23 academic year, the number of Indian students studying in the US increased by 35 per cent hitting an all-time high of over 268,000.

International tourist arrivals remain at 26% below pre-pandemic levels, according to a June 2023 monthly report from the US Travel Association, with spending slower, too.

The consular teams of the US have been making a "huge push" to process as many visa applications as possible in India, US Department of State official spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press briefing on Thursday.

Describing India as an important partner wherein people-to-people relationship plays a significant role, top US lawmakers have urged the Biden Administration to address the visa wait time issue in India on a priority basis.

The long and agonizing wait for Green Cards for people from India, China, Mexico and the Philippines is mainly due to the country-based quota system in its allocation which can be changed only by the US Congress, a senior official has said.

Reducing the wait time for US visas for Indians is not the "10th or 11th priority" but the "number one priority", the new US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti told NDTV on Thursday.

The US Mission to India, the four consulates and the embassy, is on track to process more than a million visas this year, Jennifer Larson, US Consul General Hyderabad, said on Wednesday.

The wait time for a US visitor's visa interview in India has been reduced by 60 per cent this year, a senior official has said, attributing it to several steps the United States has taken.

The US has deployed temporary visa officers to help with the visa operations in Mumbai and reduce the wait time. Consular officers from around the world have left their regular duties for this purpose, the US Consulate in Mumbai said in a tweet.

"As I look at the relationship, it strikes me that people-to-people ties between our two nations are really the bedrock of what is one of our most consequential relationships in the world and that's the US-India relationship," they said.

To cut delays in processing visas, the US recently launched new initiatives, including scheduling special interviews for first time applicants and increasing the strength of consular staff.

The US is "putting every ounce of its energy" to eliminate the long visa wait time in India, including sending a cadre of consular officers to the country and opening up its other overseas embassies as far away as Germany and Thailand.

The US is making every effort to reduce the waiting time for a visa interview appointment in India, a top State Department official has said.