Ashish Ranjan
India ‘Number One’ Priority: People-to-people links are the foundation of the relationship between India and the United States, and fixing the visa wait time issue is crucial to preserving them, according to senior administration officials.
Reducing the visa waiting period is a top priority for Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nancy Jackson told Indian reporters on Tuesday at a roundtable organised by the State Department, the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, and the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS).
“People-to-people contacts between our two nations are the foundation of one of our most significant relationships in the world, namely the US-India relationship. We cannot emphasise this enough. Consequently, addressing the visa wait times that we’ve been seeing is crucial not only for maintaining but also expanding these people-to-people ties “Jackson stated.
FIIDS has collaborated with the Biden Administration over the past few months to address a variety of issues affecting Indian-Americans, including the visa waiting period.
“Currently India ‘Number One’ Priority. We are resolutely dedicated to remedying the current scenario, in which anyone in India seeking a visa appointment or visa must wait a considerable amount of time. This is in no way our goal “said Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs.
She stated that the State Department has taken many measures to minimise visa processing times. These include waiving visa interviews for an increasing number of categories, sending dozens of officials to India to conduct the interviews, screening visa applications by State Department officials in the United States, involving officials from its other diplomatic missions in the process, and opening its embassies and missions as far as Thailand and Germany to Indian visa-seekers for an in-person interview.
“The wait period for first-time visitor appointments has been reduced by one year and two months. Now, the second year we take off will be more difficult than the first, but we will get there “She stated,
“All non-visitor visa kinds, including those for students, workers, and those who have previously travelled to the United States, have extremely short wait times. Six months ago, our H-1b and F visa (for students) wait times were identical to those for tourists. We decreased such categories “Stufft stated.
As India ‘Number One’ Priority,”We decreased the wait time for individuals who do not require an interview. We made significant progress in this area. And due to the enormous volume of visitor visa applications, which is our largest category globally, especially in India, we still have that one wait time to pursue “She stated,
She remarked that additional action is possible. “Due to the fact that we waive interviews for a huge number of Indian visa applicants, these cases can be handled by individuals from all over the world, not just in India. Today, we have dozens of officials around the world and here here in Washington issuing Indian visas on behalf of our Mission in India “said the State Department official.
Thus, they can concentrate in India on individuals who require the interview. “And we can allow others to focus on those who do not require an interview. Therefore, someone in China could be producing Indian cases, which are then printed in India and returned to the local area. This has been of great use to us “Stufft stated.
“We have also opened up additional missions, which is extraordinary. We’ve requested that other US embassies accept Indian visa applicants if they chose to travel there. Bangkok is our largest location where we are doing this at the moment. Indian citizens are not required to obtain a visa to enter Thailand. And everyone who requires an appointment for a visiting visa can travel to Bangkok “She stated,
She remarked that leaving one’s native country for an American visa appointment is a less-than-ideal circumstance, but in the interim, it is quite useful. She stated that the US Mission in Frankfurt, among others, is allowing people who are already in the United States to travel abroad to go there instead of returning all the way home, and that this has greatly aided those who are urgently attempting to fly on a tourist visa.
“We have observed this to be effective. In the past few months, Indian people have applied to more than a hundred US embassies abroad, and a large number of them are travelling from India to attend their appointment. So this is something that people are exploiting “Stufft stated.
The United States has also dispatched scores of personnel to India to process visa applications. She stated that they work weekends and shifts during the week. “Because of their presence, we’ve achieved truly remarkable progress,” she remarked.
Due to these measures, according to Stufft, the United States has issued 36% more visas than before the outbreak in India during normal periods. This is anticipated to increase as the year progresses, she stated.
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As the relationship between the U.S. and India grows, this is one of the State Department’s top priorities, according to Jackson, who emphasised that all available resources are being devoted to the issue.
