With initiatives like special interviews for first-time applicants and increased staffing levels nationwide, the US embassy in India hopes to reduce the length of time that applicants must wait to receive visas.
For the help of Indian citizerns who need visa in person interview for USA , the US embassy in Delhi and its consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, & Hyderabad held special interviews on Saturday, 21st January 2023. As per press release of USA ambassador, his office will increase the number of applicant for visa interview every Saturdays from now onward.
According to a statement obtained by the news agency ANI, the US embassy quoted “On January 21, the US Mission in India launched the first series of special interview as part of an enormous effort to reduce the processing time of first-time visa applicants. The Ameircan embassy of New Delhi and its branch office of Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, & Hyderabad started its consular operations on Saturday regarding applicants document verifications during physical visa interviews.
The statement further stated that the US government has established remote processing of interview waiver cases for applicants who had previously obtained US visas in an effort to save time. It was further informed that several temporary consular officers from Washington and other embassies will visit India to increase processing capacity.
The number of consular officers permanently assigned to the embassies and consulates is also rising, according to the US State Department. More than 2.5 lakhs extra B1 (business) and B2 (tourism) appointments have been made available by the US mission in India. In order to accommodate more appointments, the US Consulate General in Mumbai has now extended its daily operational hours.
The US embassy added that the mission in India will have a full staff and probably handle pre-COVID levels of visa processing. The COVID-19 epidemic had a significant influence on the US visa application procedure, and many embassies and consulates could only provide emergency services.
