US Embassy in India to host live virtual chat on Sept 29 to address visa wait time concerns

Indian citizens awaiting visas or having questions on that can join the live virtual session on U.S. Embassy India's Facebook and Instagram pages starting at 3 PM.

In the tweet, the US Embassy in India wrote: "Visa appointments are now open for all categories! But because of high demand, wait times remain significant. Join us Thursday, Sept 29 at 3 pm IST on U.S. Embassy India's Facebook & Instagram pages for a candid chat with our Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, Don Heflin."

Earlier this year, the United States waived the physical interview requirements for many applicants, including students and workers, through Dec 31 2022.

These applicants eligible for the waiver are students (F, M, and academic J visas), workers (H-1, H-2, H-3, and individual L visas), Culture and extraordinary ability (O, P, and Q visas).

The waiting period for Indians looking to get a visitor visa to the US has gone up to 800 days, according to the website of the US State Department.

The waiting period is nearly 400 days for student/exchange visitor visas and other non-immigrant visas.

Indian students comprise nearly 20 per cent of all international students in the United States, with the Open Doors report in 2021 showing that there were 167,582 students in US from India during the 2020-2021 academic year.