US visa appointment wait times at consulates located in Hyderabad, which were nearly 1000 calendar days in November, have dropped drastically. Wait times at the consulates in Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai, as well as the embassy in New Delhi, have all seen a drop.
The wait time for visitor visas at the Hyderabad consulate has decreased from 994 to 261 calendar days, while it has decreased from 961 to 786 calendar days at the New Delhi embassy. The wait times at Chennai and Kolkata consulates for visitor visas have also decreased from 948 to 800 and 904 to 370 calendar days respectively.
While appointment wait times for visitor visas have decreased, wait times for US student visas have increased at all consulates and embassy in India.
Measures being taken to reduce wait times
Though visa appointment wait times have decreased significantly since November, efforts are being made to reduce them even further.
Authorities are making more applicants eligible for interview waivers in order to reduce wait times. Aside from that, dropbox cases are sent abroad for adjudication.
Addressing the growing concern about the backlog of visa applications from countries such as India, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Wednesday that he understands the frustrations of those who must wait for an extended period of time.
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“Visa processing is recovering faster than projected and over the coming year, we expect to reach pre-pandemic processing levels,” Price said.
“I can tell you that it is a priority of the Secretary and of the Department to do everything we can to reduce that backlog and ultimately to reduce the wait times,” he said.
The official website of the US Department of State displays real-time visa appointment wait times at the US embassy and consulates in India.
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