NEW DELHI: Outgoing United States ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti on Monday said that over 5 million Indians currently hold American visas, with visa issuances increasing by more than 60% since his appointment as his country’s envoy here.
Speaking at an event at the Fulbright House in New Delhi, Garcetti said that for the second consecutive year, the US issued over one million non-immigrant visas to Indians, including a record number of visitor visas. He also highlighted the substantive reduction of wait times for all visa types, with the exception of first-time visitor visas.
"Since becoming Ambassador, we’ve increased our visa issuance by more than 60%, and for the second year in a row, we’ve issued over a million non-immigrant visas, including a record number of visitor visas," he said.
Garcetti praised India’s growing prominence as the leading source of international students in the United States.
"I'm proud to say that since becoming Ambassador, India has become the number one source of higher education students in the USA. One in four foreign students in American universities are Indian," he said.
Reflecting on his time in India, Garcetti expressed pride in the strengthened US-India relationship, emphasising the shared purpose between the two nations.
"This last speech is about you, about us. People are connecting across oceans and cultures for a common purpose to better the lives of our two nations and the world we inhabit," he said.
Garcetti's remarks come at a time of heightened concerns in India about potential changes in US immigration policies, particularly with the incoming Trump administration. The H-1B visa program, which allows skilled foreign workers to enter the US, has been under scrutiny, especially as Indian nationals make up over 70% of all H-1B visa holders.
While Garcetti did not directly address the anticipated policy shifts, he spoke about the importance of increasing economic and educational exchanges between the two countries, asserting that such ties would strengthen both nations. "The more ties we have to more Indians and the more ways we can find to grow our economic and educational exchanges, the stronger America and India will both be," he said.
The envoy made a call to overcome division, stating: "Let’s prove any haters wrong, the way we always have, by meeting instead of tweeting, by investing instead of protesting, by connecting instead of objecting."
Garcetti’s remarks were part of his final public lecture in a series discussing the US-India relations in different parts of India.