Sep 30, 2024 03:13 PM IST
The US Embassy opened 250,000 visa appointments for Indian travelers, including students and skilled workers, following record student visas this year.
The US Embassy said it “ has opened an additional 250,000 visa appointments for Indian travellers” including tourists, skilled workers, and students. This comes as the US once again issued a record number of student visas in India this yea- more than the over 1.4 lakh student visas issued last year — the most for any country globally then.
The US Embassy said, “The new slots will help hundreds of thousands of Indian applicants take timely interviews, facilitating travel… The US mission to India has already surpassed 10 lakh non-immigrant visa applications for the second consecutive year.”
“During our student visa season this (2024) summer, we processed record numbers, and all first-time student applicants were able to obtain an appointment at one of our five consular sections around India,” it added.
US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden set an ambitious goal to improve and expedite the visa process and I’m proud to say that we have delivered on that promise. Our consular teams at the embassy and four consulates work tirelessly to ensure that we meet the surging demand.”
In 2023, the US issued over 1.4 lakh student visas and said, “Taken individually, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai now stand as the top four student visa processing posts in the world. As a result of these surging numbers, Indian students have become the largest group of international graduate students in the United States and make up more than a quarter of the over one million foreign students studying in the United States.”