PTI

New Delhi, January 28

The US embassy and its consulates in India plan to course of a “record” variety of visas for Indians this 12 months, Mumbai Consular Chief John Ballard stated, in view of delays and a backlog in nearly each visa class.

Currently, the wait time for Indians making use of for work visas ranges from 60-280 days, whereas for travellers, it’s round one and a half years.

The exterior affairs ministry has raised the problem of visa delays with the US authorities on a number of events in addition to issues associated to additional ease issuing of visas for all classes of Indian travellers.

The embassy adjudicated over 1,25,000 pupil visas final 12 months, a report quantity for Indians, and expects much more Indian college students to use for visas this 12 months, Ballard stated.

The US official additionally advised PTI that the embassy had nearly reached its pre-pandemic ranges of visa-processing, and anticipated to surpass these ranges this 12 months.

“Last year, we adjudicated over 8,00,000 total visa adjudications and we are almost up to our pre-pandemic levels, which we expect to surpass in 2023,” Ballard stated.

The solely class through which the embassy is seeking to scale back the backlog is for first-time B1 and B2 vacationer and enterprise journey visas, he stated. 

#Mumbai