The US embassy and consulates in India will begin student visa interviews from mid-November, Don Heflin, Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, US Embassy said on Thursday.
The United States will also open 100,000 slots over the next few weeks for applicants of H and L worker visas, specially for drop box cases.
This would specially for first-time applicants.
“There are people in the United States on an H or L visa who haven’t been able to come back home to visit families since Covid started , we sympathise with them,” Heflin said.
Join us for a LIVE chat with our Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, Don Heflin. https://t.co/TB78HPe0A4
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The embassy also announced it would be taking special measures to cut down wait times for B1/B2 visas, which are used by tourists and business people, over the next few months. These visas have a current wait time of over 800 days.
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For students, the embassy will be conducting interviews starting from mid-November till the end of December. The first half of appointment slots will open in mid-October and the rest around mid-November.
The slots apply for F visas, M . J visas will be given a priority line, it was announced.
“We will be able to go back to 100% staffing by this time next year,” Heflin said while addressing the backlog, adding the embassies and consulates will be able to process more visas than ever by 2023.
Travel plans of thousands of Indians have been hit by backlogs for important categories of US visas including B-1/B-2 visitors visas and H-1B and H-4 work permit visas. However, the good news for Indian students is that, with valid F-1 student visas, travelling back to the US after visiting India or any other country, is easy and does not require any additional visa stamp or interview.
After a two year pause, the United States finally opened up interview slots for new visa applicants.
“Visa appointments are now open for all categories! But because of high demand, wait times remain significant,” the US Embassy India tweeted.
The waiting period for Indians looking to secure a visitor visa to the US has gone up to 800 days, according to the website of the US State Department. The waiting period is nearly 400 days for student/exchange visitor visas and other non-immigrant visas.
ET Online
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