Getting a US visa is a very difficult task, as it takes years to wait, but now America wants people to get rid of this problem, for which the government has taken a big decision from next year.
The long wait to get a visa to travel to America is about to end. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said that America will increase visa appointment slots by 1 million next year. The government has decided to increase the visa slots as lakhs of people are going to visit America in the coming year. America is gearing up to host major international events like the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics and the Rugby Championship.
Referring to the increase in the application process, Secretary of State Blinken said that more appointments will be made this time than last year's record number of appointments. In fiscal year 2024, the US issued 1.15 million visas, of which 8.5 million were visitor visas. The foreign minister said, this (visa appointment) will increase by 10 percent compared to last year. The wait time for a visa interview for first-time visitor visa interviewees has increased to an average of 60 days.
Visa waiting times have long been a cause for concern The time it takes to get a visa has long been a concern for people planning to move to the US. This wait got longer when people faced the Covid pandemic. Even though visa waiting times have come down, challenges remain for Indian tourists. 300-320 days waiting time to get tourist visa in India. It reached 900 days during covid.
What is the visa waiting time for Indians? There are two main categories of visitor visas in the US, one of which is the B-1 visa, which is issued for business-related purposes. While the second is the B-2 visa, which is available for tourism purposes. Both these visas allow a person to stay in the US temporarily. According to data as of November 1, 2024, visa wait times at US embassies in India vary from embassy to embassy. Let's know how long Indians have to wait to get visa.
B-1/B-2 Visa with Interview: First-time B-1/B-2 visa applicants will have to go to the embassy for an interview. Following are the visa interview timings for them at US Embassy in various cities of India:
- New Delhi: 94 days
- Mumbai: 463 days
- Hyderabad: 437 days
- Kolkata: 499 days
- Chennai: 477 days
B-1/B-2 Visa with Interview Exemption: Applicants who have previously traveled to the United States or meet age eligibility criteria are exempt from an interview to obtain a visa. The waiting time for obtaining a visa in this category is as follows.
- New Delhi: 214 days
- Kolkata: 122 days
What will be the benefit of increasing visa slots? Indian citizens have to pay an application fee of 185 dollars (about 15 thousand rupees) to get a B-1/B-2 visa to the US. This fee is non-refundable, meaning the money will not be refunded once the form is submitted. At present, it can be said that if the 10 lakh visa appointment slots are increased, it will directly benefit Indians, who can easily obtain visas to the US and travel there. With the increase in visa slots, families of Indian workers and students studying in the US will be able to meet them.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
