With the issuance of an unprecedented 90,000 student visas during the summer months of July and August, the US Embassy in India has reached a historic milestone.
Surprisingly, this number shows that India is the source of over a quarter of all US student visas issued worldwide.
“The U.S. Mission in India is pleased to inform that we issued a record number of student visas this Summer/ in June, July, and August,” the U.S. Embassy India wrote in a post on X (previously Twitter). Last summer, India alone was the country where nearly one in four international student visas were given! Best wishes and congratulations to all the students who have decided to pursue their higher education ambitions in the United States! It’s all done now! We made sure that all qualifying applicants arrived on time at their programs through teamwork and ingenuity.
Moreover, recent revelations of major advancements in visa processing by US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti.
He emphasized a significant drop in the wait time for initial tourist visa interviews, which was greater than a 50% reduction. Their ambitious goal for 2023 is to process a minimum of one million visas, according to Ambassador Garcetti.
Garcetti emphasized the advancements achieved in visa processing when addressing a crowd at IIT Delhi, saying, “We’re already doing this. More visas are being processed right now, quicker than ever before, by the US Embassy in India. We’ve committed to processing at least a million visas by 2023, and we’ve already accomplished more than half of that objective.
Cooperation Between the US and India on Efforts to Simplify the Visa Application Process
India and the US have worked together to make the visa application procedure more efficient. On a trip to the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Indian professionals would no longer need to travel abroad to renew their H-1B visas. ‘In-country’ renewable H-1B visas were introduced at this time, which was a crucial step in developing stronger connections between the two countries.
Also, strategic plans for the opening of additional consulates were made public, demonstrating the development of diplomatic ties. The opening of consulates by the United States and India in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, respectively, will take place this year. The arrival of Indian consulates in two more American cities signals both countries’ commitment to bolstering their bilateral relations and facilitating easier visa procedures, which bodes well for the future.