US has an aim to take a multi-prolonged approach to cut the visa backlog for Indians. The US mission in India be planning to open more slots for appointments to take place on select Saturdays in the coming months.
Details.
The US has taken an initiative like scheduling more interviews for the applicants applying for the first time and to increase the strength of the consular staff. This has been done to prevent the delay in the US visas to the Indians. The US embassy in Delhi and the consulates in Mumbai, Delhi , Hyderabad and Kolkata had conducted special Saturday interview days on 21st of January.
The US embassy stated on Saturday,” on January 21 , the US mission in India launched the first in a series of special Saturday interview days It is a part of a larger effort to reduce wait times for the first time visa applicants”. They released a statement ,” The US embassy in New Delhi and consulates in Mumbai ,Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad all opened consular operations on Saturday. To accommodate applicants who require in person visa interviews.” It will continue to open the extra slots for the appointments. They will take place on the select Saturday in coming months.
From The Authorities.
The authority stated,” The additional interview days are just one component of a multi-prolonged initiative . It is to address the backlog in visa processing caused by COVID -19 . To increase the process of the visa processing, many temporary consular officers from Washington and other embassies will arrive They will arrive in India between January and March 2023. Amidst this mission of the US embassy , it releases more than 250000 additional B1 and B2 visa appointments. Here B1 refers to visas related to business and B2 refers to tourist visas.
The authorities further stated,” In every other visa category ,interview wait times in India are at pre-pandemic levels or lower.
John Ballard , Mumbai consular chief stated ,” Our consular teams across India are putting in the extra hours to meet the need of international travellers .”