“I am glad to see that steps are being taken to reduce wait time for visa applications in India,” a told Congresswoman lauded the slew of measures undertaken by the Biden administration to reduce the massive backlog in visa processing applications in India.
She said that such a long time was ‘unacceptable’, according to the news agency PTI. “It is unacceptable that the wait time for visas has been so long, and in Congress, I have pushed for these delays to be addressed,” she said.
Grace Meng, 47, is a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and a member of the Congressional Caucus on India made these remarks on Tuesday.
According to Meng, this initiative will significantly help businesses and families who are waiting for the arrival of workers and loved ones from India.
The United States had also sent a cadre of consular officers to India last week to open up overseas embassies in Germany and Thailand to expedite Indian visa applicants.
She further added that the US and India continue to share a special bond which will reduce backlogs and strengthen the strong relationship that exists between our two great countries, PTI reported.
There have been growing concerns in India over the long waiting period for first time visa applicants, especially for those applying under B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) categories.The waiting period of first time B1/B2 visa applicants in India was close to three years in October last year.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services, Julie Stufft told PTI in an interview, “We’re putting every ounce of our energy toward eliminating these (visa) wait times in India. The normalisation of visa operations around the world right now is a top priority.”
The US has one of the largest visa operations in the world. Prominent among them are visas for students, tech workers, immigrants who are moving permanently to the US, and seafaring crew members.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
Indians make up a large proportion of the recipients of H-1B and other work visas granted to skilled foreign workers, many in the tech industry.
India broke the record for most student visas last year and it may do so this year again, she said, adding that India is now number two in the world in terms of international students coming to the United States.
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