In an effort to strengthen people to people ties, the US has issued over 1,40,000 visas to Indian students last year and is taking many steps to reduce visa appointment waiting period.
Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, said in an interview that US missions in India worked six, seven days a week to ensure that students could be interviewed before their classes began. The US undertook rigorous efforts to focus on the demand coming out of India this year, she said.
She further stated that that while a goal was set to issue one million visas in India, the US went well beyond its target, and it was done several months in advance.
She emphasised that India is now the largest source country for foreign students in the United States, as well as many other visa categories. The US, according to her, also had a lot of cases where the interview was waived, so no interview for Indian travellers who have previously travelled and are now going back to the US. Last year, the US issued a record over 1,40,000 visas to Indian students, she said.
Expressing hope that there would be more innovations and a much quicker process in the future to reduce wat time, Stufft said that the US is sending huge numbers of officers to India to manage the wait time and move them around the country as needed. And while it has gotten much better, it still needs to come down considerably.
(With inputs from PTI)