NEW DELHI: In 2023, the United States processed a record number of visas while simultaneously reducing the duration of visiting visa appointments in India by 75%.
In 2023, the US embassy and consulates in India handled 1.4 million visa applications, satisfying record-breaking demand for all visa categories.
For the third consecutive year, the consular service made a record by issuing more visas to Indian students than any other nation in the world in 2023—over 140,000.
Compared to 2022, the embassy saw a 60% rise in applications. According to the US embassy, “one out of every ten US visa applicants worldwide” are Indian.
Over 700,000 applications for visitor visas (B1/B2) have rebounded to become the second-highest amount in the US Mission’s history. The US embassy and consulates responded to this demand by hiring more permanent staff, using creative technical solutions, and conducting a three-month staffing surge in Mumbai early in the year, according to the US embassy.
“Across the nation, the average appointment wait time for visitor visas was 1,000 days, but thanks to process upgrades and personnel investments, it is now only 250 days. In every other category, wait periods are negligible,” the embassy continued.
The embassy noted that the top four global locations for the processing of student visas are currently Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
According to the embassy, Indian students have grown to be the largest group of international graduate students in the country, accounting for nearly 25% of the more than one million foreign students studying here.
Nonetheless, work visas continue to be of utmost importance to Indians, so much so that the consular staff in India combined most petition-based visa processing in Chennai and Hyderabad to boost productivity, resulting in the processing of more than 380,000 employment visas.
The embassy further stated that the Covid-19 epidemic had cleared a backlog of more than 31,000 immigrant visa applications at the consulate general in Mumbai.