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There will be a significant reduction in the time that applicants must wait for before receiving a US visa by the summer of 2023, a senior official of the US embassy said adding that there will be about 1.2 million applicants overall.
India is America’s top priority for issuance of visas, a senior official of the US embassy said adding that by the middle of 2023, US hopes to return the situation to its pre-Covid-19 levels.
US hopes to issued approximately one lakh visas every month and over 82,000 visas were awarded by the US in the last one year, the official informed. "We are looking at 1.1 to 1.2 million visas to Indians by next summer," said the official.
The US is also launching a number of efforts, including adding more staff and expanding the "drop box" facilities owing to the lengthy wait times for visa approval, the official said. The drop box facility is the method used to renew a US visa without having to go through the interview.
For some categories, the wait time has already decreased from 450 days to about nine months, the official informed.
India is anticipated to jump from third place to second place in terms of the number of visas awarded by the US. India is currently behind Mexico and China, the official said.
About one million slots became available for Indians for the H (H1B) and L category visas, as per the official. Moreover, the approximately nine-month wait time for B1, B2 (business and tourist) visas is being reduced, the official added.
