Waiting period for visa appointment unlikely to reduce, says US diplomat

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 21

There is no possibility of reduction in the waiting period for interviews for B1 and B2 visas for tourism and business assignments in the near future at the US Embassy in New Delhi, Minister Counsellor for Public Diplomacy Gloria F Berbena told The Tribune here today.

The waiting period for interviews for non-immigrant visa (for first-time travellers) at the New Delhi consulate is 386 days. Calcutta has the shortest visa time wait of 24 days while Hyderabad consulate has the longest waiting period of 407 days, Berbena said.

Student visa no guarantee of getting job

We want Indian students to come and study with us but will like to clarify that the study visa is no guarantee of getting a job or being allowed to stay in the US once they have completed their course. —Gloria F Berbena, minister counsellor for public diplomacy

“There has been a noticeable improvement in the overall visa scenario in the recent times, particularly for youngsters going for studies and those seeking renewal of expired visas. Applicants seeking visas for important assignments like the UN session are being cleared on priority,” she added.

Berbena said applicants were free to book their appointment at any consulate in the country, including New Delhi, Hyderabad or Kolkata, as per their convenience. All cases are treated on the same merit.

“In the overall perspective, the US continues to be a top priority destination for people from all across the world. So, a big rush is natural. This was more compounded during the Covid period. We have streamlined the processing work for different categories of visas and there has been a considerable improvement. Visa rush in certain categories is seasonal. The waiting can be longer during the season of admissions and also during the wedding season when Indians are coming to the US in big numbers,” she said.

In Chandigarh to launch the “English Language Fellow Programme” at Chandigarh University tomorrow, Berbena said: “US universities are touring different parts of the country and looking for establishing their campuses here. We organised student-parent interaction camps with US institutes at Chennai and Hyderabad recently and another one is scheduled for New Delhi later this week”.

“We have reports on institutions making viability reports on campuses at different places. At the same time, they are also looking for possibility of giving their courses to different institutions. Students studying here always have the option of coming to the US for further studies. We have more than two lakh Indian students currently and are always open to entry of a bigger number,” she added.

Responding to a question on students finding it difficult in getting jobs or continuing their stay in the US, Berbena said: “We want Indian students to come and study with us but will like to clarify that the study visa is no guarantee of getting any job or being allowed to stay in the US once they had completed their course.”