US opens 2.5 lakh visa slots, Delhi wait drops to 37 days from 542 last week; Kolkata, Mumbai & Chennai also see drop | India News

NEW DELHI: Indians in search of US visas — usually first-time candidates within the B1 (enterprise) and B2 (vacationer) classes, or these whose earlier B1/B2 visas lapsed greater than 4 years in the past — needn’t wait until eternity for an interview slot. In Delhi, the wait interval is all the way down to 37 days from 542, or virtually 1.5 years, till final week.
The change triggered by the US embassy opening over 2.5 lakh visa interview slots was mirrored on Wednesday in information on the state division’s web site, which confirmed the present look forward to a B1/B2 interview appointment within the nationwide capital down to simply over a month.Whereas Delhi has seen the sharpest drop within the variety of days an applicant has to attend, another consulates have reported a marked enchancment, too. The state division’s web site confirmed the B1/B2 interview wait interval in Kolkata at 126 days, down from 539 final week.

Mumbai is now at 322 days, declining from 596 final week. Chennai is all the way down to 341 from 526 days. Solely Hyderabad has seen a marginal improve from 506 days to 511 over the previous week. “It was a busy weekend for our consular staff! Over the weekend, we opened over 1 / 4 million non-immigrant visa appointments! Guide yours as we speak at the US embassy posted on X.
When visa processing resumed after the pandemic-induced lockdowns and worldwide journey bans, the wait time for an appointment in India had peaked at virtually three years. The US embassy has since taken a number of steps to ease the backlog, with exterior affairs minister S Jaishankar elevating this challenge a number of occasions.

The measures embody setting apart non-immigrant visa interview appointments particularly for Indians in consulates overseas like Frankfurt and Bangkok. With the US embassy processing over 10 lakh non-immigrant visa functions this yr, the wait interval dropped to about 1.5 years till final week.
“We advise lots of our Indian shoppers to go to those locations a day earlier than the appointment date and keep there for a couple of week, by which era their passports can be returned by the embassy with a choice on the visa. Such is the scenario as of now. We hope the development is right here to remain,” mentioned a journey business insider.
The ten lakh visas processed this yr are virtually 20% greater than the corresponding pre-Covid determine for 2019 and the info for 2022. “Indians now symbolize over 10% of all visa candidates worldwide,” the US embassy mentioned final month.
In 2022, over 12 lakh Indians visited the US. Regardless of the lengthy ready time for visa interviews and sky-high airfares, Indians constituted the second-largest chunk of abroad guests to the US this summer season at over 5 lakh.