Indians will receive 1 million visas from the US this year

The Embassy is increasing employees, extending drop-box facilities, and offering weekend interview times to meet the goal. More than two lakh applications have already been handled by the US Embassy this year.

The US embassy started scheduling special Saturday interview times in January to expedite the visa application process for first-time candidates.

The United States has declared that one million Indians will receive visas this year, almost a month after opening up visa slots for them on the weekends.

A spokesperson for the US Embassy in New Delhi told The Indian Express that the US Mission had already processed more than two lakh applications at its embassies and consulates in India. "We're on track to hit our goal of processing more than one million non-immigrant visa applications in 2023," the spokesperson added.

The official continued, "We aim to handle one million visa applications, which includes non-immigrant visas of all sorts."

According to the Embassy, the US Department of State handled about nine million non-immigrant visa applications globally in 2022. The non-immigrant visa categories cover crew, student, business, and travel visas.

The Embassy is increasing employees, broadening the range of drop-box facilities, and offering up interview slots over the weekend to meet the goal while facilitating the process for Indian nationals. Visa processing times have been significantly shortened.

In what it dubbed a "multi-pronged attempt" to resolve the backlog in the processing of visa applications owing to the Covid-19 outbreak, the US embassy set up unique interview slots on Saturdays in January. This sped up the processing of visas for first-time applicants.

The US mission, which also maintains offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad in addition to the national capital, announced in a statement that it has boosted the size of its consular employees.

"The one million visa proposal is an India-specific endeavor, to further improve the people-to-people connections between the two nations," claims the embassy spokeswoman.

To renew a US visa without having to go through an interview, a drop-box facility is now available for several categories, including student visas, business and tourist visas, and visas for skilled workers.

Also, the government is boosting the number of permanent consular officials stationed at embassies and consulates.

The American mission in India will be fully operational by the summer, and the agency anticipates processing visas at pre-Covid levels.

India is now the top priority, according to Julie Stufft, deputy assistant secretary for visa services at the Bureau of Consular Affairs, who was speaking to the media in Washington a few weeks ago.

"We have awarded 36% more visas so far this year than we did before the COVID-19 outbreak in India," she continued. And that represents a significant amount of development.

Indian citizens traveling overseas can schedule a visa appointment with the US Embassy or consulate at their destination, according to information released by the US Embassy in India last month. It gave Thailand as an example, noting the nation's decision to allow appointments for B1 and B2 visas (for business and travel) for Indians.