Indians Will Not Get USA Visa for 2 Years!
As wait time for visa appointments in India reaches over two years, a controversy raged over social media comparing the timeframe to appointments for visa in China.
There is a big controversy going around Indians who want to apply for a USA visa. The US State Department's website which deals with Visa applications showed that, for a Delhi visa applicant, the appointment waiting time is 833 days, while those from Mumbai would have to wait for 848 days. The time frame for applicants from Beijing, China is just 2 days. This means an Indian will have to wait for almost 2 years, that too just for appointment. This means that a person applying for a visitor visa is expected to get an appointment in January 2025. After appointment it may take even longer for the visa! For student visas, the waiting time is 430 days for Delhi and Mumbai, while for applicants from Beijing and Islamabad, Pakistan the wait time is 1 and 2 calender days. Indians were shocked by the difference!
Indians do not have to wait for so long for visa applications to other countries. People began speculating a political reason for this and some even said that the USA is purposely oppressing Indians. Regarding the difference in timings, the US state department says that ‘Yes I know there is a long wait time for India. But this is because since COVID-19 lockdown, they have reduced our staff in embassies by 50%. Plus because of the lockdown there was a lot of work which was pending and now staff are overburdened. Also there are many people applying for visas from India. So we are trying our best. By next year all embassies will work with 100% staff. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said this week that he flagged visa related challenges for Indians to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in their meeting. Blinken reassured Jaishankar that the United States was aiming to address those concerns. However the USA’s response has not satisfied Indians and many people's travel plans have been disrupted.
