How new US visa initiative will cut wait time for Indians

Special Saturday interviews, remote processing of interview waiver cases, temporary consular officers arriving from Washington, and additional B1/B2 appointments are some of the ways the United States plans to reduce visa wait times for Indians.

New Delhi:The US mission in India on January 21 launched a series of special Saturday interview days in a bid to reduce wait times for first-time visa applicants. "The United States Embassy in New Delhi and Consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad all opened consular operations on Saturday to accommodate applicants who require in-person visa interviews," the US embassy said in a statement. The additional interview days are just part of a multi-pronged initiative to address the backlog in visa processing caused by COVID-19.

The US State Department has also brought about remote processing of interview waiver cases for applicants with previous US visas. Moreover, dozens of temporary consular officers from Washington and other embassies will arrive in India between January and March 2023 to increase visa processing capacity. The embassy said, "By this summer, the US mission in India will be at full staffing, and we expect to be processing visas at levels from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Consulate General Mumbai currently adjudicates the most visa applications in India and is one of the largest visa operations in the world. Mumbai Consular Chief John Ballard said, "Our consular teams across India are putting in the extra hours to meet the needs of international travellers and bring down wait times."
The US mission in India has also released more than 2,50,000 additional B1/B2 appointments. While B1 is a business visa, B-2 is a tourism visa. The Consulate General in Mumbai has also extended its weekday operating hours to make space for additional appointments.

The mission to India has adjudicated over 8,00,000 nonimmigrant visas in 2022, including both student and employment visas, ever since the Covid curbs were lifted. "In every other visa category, interview wait times in India are at pre-pandemic levels or lower," the US embassy said.