US cuts Visit visa wait time from 1000 days to 560 days for Indian applicants

• The US State Department said it has turbo-charged the process of granting visas to Indians in unique ways, including using its embassies in other countries to deal with the backlog in India, to reduce visa delays for thousands of Indian applicants.
• This year, the US has granted thirty-six percent more visas to Indians to date compared to the pre-pandemic era. This is due to the “number one priority” accord to cut the wait time short by taking many steps like remote processing of applications from India.
• Specifically for first-time visitors, the longest wait time has been reduced to 580 days from more than 1000 days. To achieve this, the country has taken several measures, such as waiving the interview for repeat visitors, appointing more staff in the consular operations in Indian missions, and introducing “Super Saturdays,” where the staff processes visas all day.

The department will start renewing H-1B and L-1 visas in the US and waive the requirement that applicants can only get a renewal stamp abroad, it said. Many people were stuck in a limbo during the pandemic because of this rule.

Reasons for the delays in the wait time of the US visas

• The main reason behind the long wait time is that the consular operation was closed for over a year due to the pandemic. The US operations were impacted worldwide, but the impact in India was more prominent due to the enormous volume of visa applications from Indians for all categories.   
• The issue has been addressed primarily due to the interview waiver for repeat visitors. Those applications were processed remotely. Indians are now being encouraged to apply for a US visa, and over 100 US missions have processed Indian applications worldwide.