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US envoy Garcetti discusses efforts to reduce visa wait times in India, legislative challenges with green card backlog, high demand for American visas from Indians, and plans for new consulates in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
According to the State Department's website, the wait times for B1/B2 visa interview appointments in India have reached staggering durations, with 441 days in Hyderabad, 486 days in Chennai, 526 days in Delhi, 571 days in Mumbai, and 607 days in Kolkata. In stark contrast, the wait time in Frankfurt is just three days.
The United States is ending allowances made during the pandemic, including extensions of visa application validity. The US Embassy in India has warned applicants to check their receipts and schedule an interview on time, or risk having to pay the fee again.
The core components of the Visa Processing Improvement Act encompass several key actions. Firstly, it requires the State Department to establish specific targets for interview wait times. For locations where these goals are not met, corrective actions will be taken to reduce waiting times. The bill also proposes granting the State Department the authority to exempt certain low-risk, previously vetted nonimmigrant visa applicants from in-person interviews.
The wait time for first-time tourist visa interviews in the US has been reduced by over 50%, according to US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti. The goal for 2023 is to process at least one million visas, and the speed of visa processing in India has already improved.