US visa: Embassy opens special slots on Saturdays for first-time applicants

The first of these special interviews was held last week, the embassy said, adding the US mission will continue to add time slots on Saturdays in the coming months

“On January 21, the US mission in India launched the first in a series of special Saturday interview days, as part of a larger effort to reduce wait times for first-time visa applicants,” the statement added.

The US State Department has also implemented the remote processing of interview waiver cases for applicants with previous US visas. These applicants no longer have to appear in-person for the interviews.

The department is also increasing the number of consular officers permanently assigned to the embassy and consulates. Between January and March 2023, the statement said, temporary consular officers from other embassies will arrive in India to increase visa-processing capacity.

“By this summer, the US mission in India will be at full staffing and we expect to be processing visas at levels from prior to the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

For Indian citizens seeking a visa to the US, the purview of the interview waiver was recently expanded. The drop box facility — it is used to renew a US visa without having to go through the interview — is now applicable to several categories of visas including student visas, business and tourist visas, and skilled worker visas.

The US mission in India said it released more than 2,50,000 additional B1/B2 appointments, pertaining to business and tourism respectively. With travel restrictions easing, the mission said it adjudicated over 8 lakh non-immigrant visas in 2022, including record numbers of both student and employment visas.

“In every other visa category, interview wait times in India are at pre-pandemic levels or lower,” it stated.

India presently ranks at No. 3 – after Mexico and China – in terms of the total number of visas issued by the US.

But it is anticipated that India will jump to second place by next summer, said an official, adding that India is top priority for Washington in this regard.