• About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Login
NRI Affairs
Youtube Channel
  • News
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Visa
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Visa
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
NRI Affairs
No Result
View All Result
Home News

US is making every effort to end India’s visa wait periods

US is striving to involve diplomatic spouses and increase the number of direct employees at its embassy, to curb visa wait periods.

NRI Affairs News Desk by NRI Affairs News Desk
January 18, 2023
in News
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
US is making every effort to end India's visa wait periods

Source: sbnri

143
SHARES
1.3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Advertisements

US is “putting every ounce of its energy” into ending the lengthy visa wait times in India. This includes sending a team of consular officers to India and opening up its other foreign embassies in places like Thailand and Germany to Indian citizens seeking visas, according to a senior US visa officer.

To speed up the issuance of visas, the US is striving to involve diplomatic spouses and increase the number of direct employees at its embassy, a US official said on Tuesday.

Since the embassy reduced staff during the pandemic and was unable to handle the rising demand for visas at the requisite speed when the economy reopened, ordinary citizens and businesses have complained about long waits for US visas.

Arun Venkataraman, US assistant secretary of commerce for global markets, said, “We are doubling the number of direct hires, we have to facilitate the issuance of visas here at the embassy, and we are also looking to bring on diplomatic spouses to also engage in the process in the areas of visas.”

“So we are continuing to take steps. We have already made progress and are issuing more visas than we ever did before,” said Venkataraman, who is in New Delhi ahead of US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo‘s anticipated March visit.

According to him, the US has issued more H1B and L visas in 2022 than it did in pre-pandemic 2019, and progress has been made in granting student visas.

When discussing the challenges they had as a result of the epidemic, he remarked, “As you can imagine, during the pandemic, we had to significantly reduce our operations, and we are unable to issue visas in that context. I am pleased to say that we have really rebounded from that situation, we have taken a number of concrete steps to facilitate the issuance of visas.”

When the issue of the backlog of Indian visa applications was brought up during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in September, the senior American diplomat responded that he was sympathetic to the situation and had plans to handle it.

Advertisements

The State Department has previously claimed that it has made significant progress on restoring pre-pandemic levels of visa processing and lowering appointment wait times.

The average wait time for appointments for visitor visas (B1/B2) is 900 days, the average wait time for students (F, M, and J) is 400 days, and the average wait time for petition-based temporary employees (H, L, O, P, and Q) is 300 days across all US consulates in India, as per travel.state.gov reports on October 31.

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services, Julie Stufft, told PTI in an interview, “We’re putting every ounce of our energy towards eliminating these (visa) wait times in India.” The normalisation of visa procedures worldwide is currently a major focus, she said.

Julie Stufft said, “We’re sending a cadre of consular officers to help our staff in our embassy and consulates in India. They’re working shifts during the day. They’re working weekends, mainly to do visitor visa interviews, which of course are now the only remaining visa type that we have long wait times for”.

“One of the world’s most extensive visa programmes is run by the US. We need to serve a very wide variety of visa kinds in India. Students, IT employees, immigrants who are settling permanently in the US, and seafaring crew members are among those who frequently need visas. Except for the largest category—visas for visitors which requires an interview—the US has completed all of these,” she added.

The US has advanced significantly in processing certain visa classes this year, according to Stufft. For employment visas like the H-1B and L1 visas, the interview wait time has decreased from 18 months to roughly 60 days.

She added that India is now ranked second in the world for the number of foreign students entering the United States and that it may break the record for the most student visas again this year.

“We are really, we’re putting all of our efforts now focusing on this visa for visitors and those, in particular, if you don’t need an interview, you don’t need to wait very long at all for a visa renewal. And that’s also one part of our strategy as well,” she remarked.

Share57Tweet36Send
NRI Affairs News Desk

NRI Affairs News Desk

Related Posts

Indian diaspora tensions increase during Federation Square's pro-Sikh vote
News

Indian diaspora tensions increase during Federation Square’s pro-Sikh vote

January 30, 2023
Sania Mirza ends her Grand Slam career in Melbourne
News

Sania Mirza ends her Grand Slam career in Melbourne

January 28, 2023
New UK Graduate Visa rules can severely impact Indian Students
News

New UK Graduate Visa rules can severely impact Indian Students

January 28, 2023
Next Post
Over 1.5 Million Indians to go overseas for education in 2023, says report

Over 1.5 Million Indians to go overseas for education in 2023, says report

Australia to revise visa and immigration policies amidst growing labour shortage

Australia to revise visa and immigration policies amidst growing labour shortage

UP CM Yogi Adityanath accused of criminal conduct by International justice group

UP CM Yogi Adityanath accused of criminal conduct by International justice group

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

‘Enormously proud’: Indian researchers receive prestigious Prime Minister’s Research Fellowships

‘Enormously proud’: Indian researchers receive prestigious Prime Minister’s Research Fellowships

1 year ago
Mohan Dutta Massey University

Indian High Commissioner in NZ draws flak from diaspora activists

1 year ago
Qantas

Australians Stuck in India question ‘COVID test results leak’ by officials

2 years ago
Visa Canadian Visa indian students india

Pending Canadian visa applications to be processed by the end of 2022

4 months ago

Categories

  • Literature
  • Multimedia
  • News
  • nriaffairs
  • Other
  • People
  • Top Stories
  • Uncategorized
  • Views
  • Visa

Topics

Air India Australia california Canada caste CECA COVID COVID-19 cricket ECTA Europe free trade FTA Geeta Germany Hindu Human Rights immigration India india-australia Indian Indian-origin Indian Students Khalistan London Melbourne Migration Modi Muslim New Zealand NRI NSW oci quarantine Singapore Sydney travel UAE uk Ukraine US USA Victoria visa women
NRI Affairs

© 2021 NRI Affairs.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Visa
  • Other

© 2021 NRI Affairs.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT