US Visa Issue For Indians: For visitor visa appointments, the wait times are 833 days from Delhi and 848 days from Mumbai.
US Visa Issue For Indians: Whole Matter
According to a US government website, Indian visa applicants must wait more than two years merely to have an appointment, compared to just two days for nations like China.
The US State Department website states that the wait time for appointments for visiting visas is 833 days for applications from Delhi and 848 days for applications from Mumbai. In contrast, Islamabad’s wait time is 450 days, while Beijing’s wait time is only two days.
The wait for student visas is 430 days for Delhi and Mumbai. It’s surprising that Islamabad only has one day whereas Beijing has two.
Foreign Minister Objection
Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar discussed the backlog in visa requests with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday while on a visit to the US. The senior US ambassador declared that he is “very sensitive” to the problem and that there are parallel challenges throughout the world brought on by Covid.
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US Minister Reply
He said that the US had a strategy to deal with the backlog of Indian visa requests. We’re very focus on it, but I think you’ll see how that develops over the next few months, Blinken added.
According to insiders, the delay results from a reduction in employees handling the visa procedure as a result of fewer applications during the epidemic. They said that the backlog resulted from an increase in applications for both student and tourist visas during the post-Covid era, combined with a lack of employees.
The US Mission in India was open for most of the pandemic; but, according to US embassy spokesperson Chris Elms, the number of applications that could be approved each day was constrained by regional constraints, such as lockdowns and social distance limits.
He claims that processing has started for both first-time and repeat applicants for both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa categories.
“We were able to grant a record number of over 82,000 student visas this summer because we gave kids the highest priority to guarantee they were on time for class. As a result, more Indian students than students from any other nation are studying in the US this year, “he added.
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Future Plans On The Matter
According to the person, the US State Department has ambitious plans to fill every position at Mission India at the greatest levels ever.
According to him, consular facilities are in update process, more officials are being employ and trained, and a new, larger facility will soon be opening in Hyderabad.
“Consular Team India additionally takes advantage of extra authority, such as expanded interview waiver authority for previously issued applicants, in order to speed up processing. In effect, this means that tens of thousands of appointments must still be open between now and the date that is now display in the system as the “next available.” “added Elms.
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