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‘India top priority for visas,’ says US embassy, students in but long wait still for tourists

US embassy official says counsellor staff for visas will be at 100 percent capacity by summer 2023 in India.

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New Delhi: India is top priority for Washington vis-à-vis visas, a senior embassy official in India said Thursday, addressing the recent concern over processing delays and backlogs in the country.

The State Department has sent temporary vice consuls to help accelerate the visa processing rate and deal with the backlog in India. Further, dropbox rules for many visa categories, especially student visas, have been relaxed to further reduce backlogs, the official, who did not want to be named, added.

In dropbox cases, where one is renewing a visa in the same category, the applicant doesn’t usually have to give an interview, but just provides his or her documents and information to the embassy.

Significantly, the senior official explained, counsellor staff for visas will be at 100 per cent capacity by summer 2023 in India. This will be the highest it has been in 10 to 15 years. With this capacity, the US embassy expects visa processing to be back at pre-pandemic levels at 1.1 to 1.2 million per year.

Some dropbox visa applications are also being sent to be adjudicated in other countries. This frees up staff in India to deal with the backlog, the official added.

Alluding to the recent shortage of visa appointments in India, the embassy official clarified that they had added 100,000 appointments recently for the popular non-immigrant work visa, the H&L visas.

These visas are for qualified technology and management professionals who are migrating to the United States for work and includes the H1B visa. This move has significantly decreased appointment waiting times for those seeking an H&L visa to the US.

Nearly 82,000 student visas were granted this year to India, more than China which traditionally receives more visas. However, Covid restrictions have curtailed functioning there, the official explained.

“The number of visas we are handling every day is higher than applications. This is a positive step, as it helps with the processing rate. This will rise as we get to 100% visa staff by next year,” added the official.

“Essentially, Covid-19 disrupted all our visa processing times and functions. In an ideal world, there would be no disruptions and staff shortages,” the senior embassy official said.

More visas given to India than China

Unpacking the different types of US visas disbursed in India, the embassy staff explained that student, business, tourist and professional visas are issued in the country. No country in the world applies for the vast categories and volumes that India does.

“The only other country that compares is China but we have issued only 50,000 student visas there this year,” the official said.

The US expects this trend to continue next year as well, unless China changes their policies, he added.

US not holding back student visas, but tourist backlog to continue

The US embassy accommodated 10 per cent more appointments for student visas this year than in 2021. They will go above the 10 per cent increase for the next year as well, explained the official.

Further, the senior official clarified that the US is not holding back in giving visas to Indians or waiting for any form of reciprocity by India to clear backlogs.

However, waiting times for B1/B2 visas — those for businesses and tourists — will continue to persist. Especially, those for fresh B1/B2 applicants.

Specifically, those applicants who have held a B2 tourist visa to the US in the past can use the dropbox facility and expect quicker processing time. For fresh applicants, processing time will be long, officials said.


Also read: US visa processing time likely to fall by mid-2023: Official


 

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