USA Announced Ease of Visa Processing Backlog in India Lead to Opening of More Visa Appointments

There is some welcome news for students aspiring to go to the USA. A little ‘garba’ or ‘bhangra’ step can do to welcome this news. USA has always been the pinnacle for Indians, when you talk about studying abroad. But in the recent past, the waiting time due to the high demand was sometimes around 200 days for a visa interview, which could feel cumbersome or make you consider other destinations, but not anymore !

The USA team of ambassadors which visited India recently announced that the consulate has added 250,000 visa appointments, to work towards improving processing time in India. While 12,000,00 Indians have already hit the American shores till September 2024, which already is an increase of 35% on last year’s numbers, the processing time for a visa appointment has come down to 42 days in the New Delhi Consulate and 66 days in the Mumbai Consulate, a number which was comfortably in three digits earlier.

It goes without saying that this will be a significant step for Indian students who want to study in the US and for reducing the long-standing backlog of applicants for student visas. Wait times for appointments for visa interviews in India had gotten close to (or surpassed) 200 days before the September announcement. As of October 9, 2024, the most recent wait times for F-Visa interview appointments have been significantly shortened. The average wait times for applications submitted through New Delhi and Mumbai are 42 and 66 days, respectively.

The US diplomats are also actively trying to reduce the number of rejections that the students face, as they want to encourage deserving students to hit their shores. Amidst all the negativity surrounding Canada and Australia, with all the caps being put there, USA comes as a breath of fresh air for Indian nationals planning to move abroad.

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