The United States’ diplomatic missions in India processed a record 1.4 million visa applications of Indians in 2023, the American embassy said on Monday.
Indians accounted for one-tenth of all United States visa applicants in 2023.
The US embassy in Delhi said that the demand from India “across all visa classes was unprecedented”, with a 60% increase in applications in 2023 as compared to 2022.
The embassy said it has reduced by 75% the appointment wait time for visa applicants.
“Process improvements and investments in staffing have brought the appointment wait time for visitor visas down from an average of 1,000 days to only 250 days around the country,” the diplomatic mission said in a statement. “Wait times are minimal in all other categories.”
The consulate in Mumbai has eliminated a queue of more than 31,000 immigrant visa cases that had been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the statement added.
The wait time for visa appointments for Indian applicants had increased to around two and a half years, especially those seeking a B1 (business) or a B2 (tourist) category visa to visit the United States.
In November 2022, the US Department of State said that many applicants for the visas were required to appear in person under the country’s law, which was not possible during local pandemic-era restrictions on public places. This had created a backlog of visa applications and increased the waiting period.
At more than seven lakh, the visitor visas have rebounded to represent the second highest number of applications from India in a single year in the diplomatic mission’s history.
In 2023, the US consular team in India issued more than 1.4 lakh student visas. This was the highest for any country, setting a record for the third consecutive year, the embassy said.
“Taken individually, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai now stand as the top four student visa processing posts in the world,” it said. “As a result of these surging numbers, Indian students have become the largest group of international graduate students in the United States and make up more than a quarter of the over one million foreign students studying in the United States.”
More than 3.8 lakh employment visas for Indians and their family members were processed in 2023. “In 2024, a pilot program will allow eligible H-1B holders to renew their visas in the United States, further streamlining the process for this group,” it said.
The H-1B visa allows employers in the United States to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
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