The appointment wait time for Indians seeking a visitor or a tourist visa for the United States reached over 900 days, which is nearly three years, on Wednesday.
The staggering waiting period is for those seeking a B1 (Business) or a B2 (Tourist) category visa to visit the United States.
Those seeking the visa appointment at the US Embassy in New Delhi are expected to wait 961 days, according to the US State Department website. The waiting period for visa appointment at the US Consulate in Mumbai is 999 days and in Hyderabad it is 994 days. Those seeking B1 and B2 category visa at US Consulate in Chennai will have to wait for 948 days to get an appointment, while in Kerala the waiting period is 904 days.
“The estimated wait time to receive an interview appointment at a US Embassy or Consulate can change weekly and is based on actual incoming workload and staffing,” the Department of State said. “These are estimates only and do not guarantee the availability of an appointment.”
Last week, the US Department of State said that many applicants for the visas are required to appear in person under the country’s law, which was not possible during local pandemic-era restrictions on public places. This created a backlog of visa applications hence increasing the waiting period.
“Ninety-six percent of our embassies and consulates are again interviewing visa applicants, and we are processing nonimmigrant visa applications at 94% of pre-pandemic monthly averages and immigrant visa applications at 130%,” the Department of State said.
“In the past 12 months [through September 30, 2022], we processed 8 million non-immigrant visas, well above our best-case projections. We are well on the way to meeting and exceeding pre-pandemic visa processing capacity.”
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