Last Year, The United States Issued A Record-Breaking 1,40,000 Visas To Indian Students

As part of the Biden administration's effort to strengthen people-to-people ties with India, the United States issued over 140,000 visas to Indian students last year and is taking multiple initiatives to shorten visa appointment wait times.

Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, stated in an interview that US missions in India worked six to seven days a week to ensure that students could be examined before their lessons began. This year, the US made a concerted effort to focus on demand from India, she said.

“For students who are applying in India, I would say the biggest thing is that the missions there have worked six, seven days a week to interview students to make sure that everyone can be interviewed before their classes start. The amount of effort and importance that we place on Indian students coming to the US is born out in the visa process. We want to make sure everyone has that chance,” she said.

The US, Stufft said, is working on taking several steps to reduce the visa appointment wait time in India, which is still a bit high. The State Department official said anyone who is interested in travelling to the US for any reason should apply as soon as possible.

“Half of our overseas missions set their own record for that country for adjudications of visas in that country. We set records for visa adjudication, for work visas and for student visas as well in some (other) categories,” she said. For 2024, the US is still working very hard on reducing wait times, Stufft said.

During a media round table with a group of foreign journalists hosted by the Foreign Press Centre, Stufft said the US has issued more than 10.5 million visas in 2023 so far, which is 2 million more than expected and is close to reaching an all-time high at its abroad missions.

“In some overseas locations, we still have very high wait times, some exceeding a year still for one category of visa, which is a first-time visitor, someone who needs an interview for their visa.