The Indians planning to travel to the United States may continue to experience delays in getting visas at least for the next few months as a significant fall in waiting time is expected only in the summer of 2023.
The number of US visa applicants from India may go up to 1.2 million by next summer when the waiting time is expected to be shorter.
“India is the number one priority for Washington DC (for issuance of visas). Our aim is to bring the situation to the pre-Covid-19 level by the middle of next year,” an official of the US embassy said on Thursday.
The waiting period for issuance of US visas is expected to see a significant fall by the summer of 2023, and the number of visa applications is projected to reach around 1.2 million, he said.
New Delhi has been conveying its concerns to Washington DC over the long waiting time for US visa applicants.
As the shutdown and travel restrictions imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic were eased, India along with a few other countries has seen a major surge in applications for US visas.
The US rolled out several initiatives to cut down the long wait time for the grant of visas for the applicants of India, including the hiring of more personnel and increasing the “dropbox” facilities, the official of the American Embassy in New Delhi said.
He added that the US had plans to issue around 1,00,000 visas for the citizens of India every month.
The US has already identified H (H1B) and L category visas for Indians as its priority, and nearly 1,00,000 slots were released recently for those wanting to renew the permits.
The wait time for certain categories has already been brought down to around nine months from earlier 450 days.
He said that the wait time for B1, B2 (business and tourism) visas was also reduced from around nine months.
The official also said India was expected to move to the number two place from the current number three in terms of the number of visas being issued by the US.
Currently, Mexico and China are ahead of India.
(With PTI inputs)