Oct 07, 2022
The US Embassy in India announced on the 29th of September, that Counsellor for Consular Affairs, Don Heflin while answering a question on U.S. Student Visas on Facebook live revealed that the U.S. Student Visa interviews would take place between the middle of November and the end of December. But it is important to note that the first round of scheduling is beginning in the middle of October and the second in the middle of November. |
Visa appointments are now available for booking. The US Embassy's Minister Counsellor for Consular Affairs, Don Heflin, discussed visa processing time and wait time at consular sections around India during his Facebook live. (Which was also streamed on Instagram)
According to embassy officials, the US Mission in India has issued a record-breaking 82,000 student visas in 2022 to date to study in USA. In fact, more students from India than any other country are granted entry to the United States on student visas.
As good as we say this news is, with such a high number of visas being issued, the delay in the processing of US visa applications from India is still a worry.
The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, along with its consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai, acknowledged this issue on its website earlier this month, writing, "Due to reduced staffing and numerous pandemic-related disruptions to our operations since March 2020, appointment demand is high across all visa categories and wait times may be longer for most routine non-immigrant visa appointments."
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to Jaishankar's concerns about the massive backlog of US visa applications from India by saying that he was aware of the problem and working on a solution.
Don Heflin, also gave his word that the United States Government will investigate the matter and was optimistic that the backlog will be cleared out within the next six months.
So, this is no doubt great news for US Study abroad aspirants. All those interested can approach KC’s US Experts to gain further information for the Spring 2023 intake and start the application and visa processing at the earliest, be it for undergrads or post-grads applications.
You can connect to our US experts across India, Nepal, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka in person or virtually to resolve all your queries.