NEW DELHI: Despite the fact that it takes over a year for a fresh US visa application to be processed in India, the US embassy in India has proudly announced that they have processed one million visa applications in the country this year.
While they haven’t specified how many visas have been issued, these numbers reveal not only the high demand among Indians from various categories to obtain US visas but also the potential contribution to the revenue collected by the US visa department.
Lalit Bhasin, national president of the Indo American Chambers of Commerce, expressed the need for the US to reduce visa waiting times for Indians. He shared an incident from the previous year when they could not take a delegation to an important event in the US as they failed to obtain visas.
In 2023, the United States Mission to India processed one million visa applications, representing a 20 percent increase compared to pre-pandemic levels. While the exact number of visas issued remains undisclosed, they did report that during the summer months (June to August), they granted 90,000 student visas to Indians, accounting for 25 percent of their global student visa issuances during that period.
Despite this spike in visa processing, there is still room for improvement. If an individual seeks a fresh application, there are great delays. US Ambassador Eric Garcetti emphasized the importance of the US-India partnership, considering it one of the most crucial bilateral relationships globally. He also reaffirmed their commitment to continue processing a record number of visas to allow more Indian applicants to experience the US-India friendship firsthand.
In 2022, more than 1.2 million Indians visited the US, with Indians now constituting over 10 per cent of all visa applicants worldwide. This includes 20 per cent of all student visa and 65 per cent of all H&L-category (employment) visa applicants.
Visa categories
H and L category visas are used by employers to hire non-immigrant workers in the US. L1 visas are for work in a management or executive capacity, while H1B visas are for specialised occupations.