US embassy launches new initiative to cut visa wait time

With an aim to cut delays in visa processing in India the US has launched new initiatives including scheduling special interviews for first time applicants and increasing strength of consular staffAs part of the multipronged approach to cut the visa backlog the US embassy in Delhi and the consulates in Mumbai Chennai Kolkata and Hyderabad conducted special Saturday interview days on January 21On January 21 the US mission in India launched the first in a series of special Saturday interview days as part of a larger effort to reduce wait times for firsttime visa applicants the US embassy said on SundayThe 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 inperson visa interviews it said in a statementThe mission will continue to open additional slots for appointments to take place on select Saturdays in the coming monthsAlso Read DGPs meet PM Modi calls for exchange of data across agenciesThese additional interview days are just one component of a multipronged initiative to address the backlog in visa processing caused by Covid19 it saidIt said the US State Department has implemented remote processing of interview waiver cases for applicants with previous US visasBetween January and March 2023 dozens of temporary consular officers from Washington and other embassies will arrive in India to increase visa processing capacity it saidThe US mission in India released more than 250000 additional B1B2 appointments While B1 is a business visa B2 is tourism visaThe mission said the Consulate General in Mumbai also extended its weekday operating hours to make space for additional appointmentsBy 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 Covid19 pandemic the embassy saidThe statement said as travel restrictions have been lifted the mission to India has made it a priority to facilitate legitimate travel and adjudicated over 800000 nonimmigrant visas in 2022 including record numbers of both student and employment visasIn every other visa category interview wait times in India are at prepandemic levels or lower it saidConsulate General Mumbai currently adjudicates the most visa applications in India and is one of the largest visa operations in the world the embassy saidOur consular teams across India are putting in the extra hours to meet the needs of international travellers and bring down wait times said Mumbai Consular Chief John BallardThis is part of a Mission wide effort to find innovative solutions to facilitate travel to the United States the official saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever