US to process 800,000 visas in next 12 months, says American diplomat

The United States embassy in India is likely to process about 8 lakh visas over the next 12 months, a senior diplomat said here on Tuesday.

Addressing reporters here, Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs at the US embassy, Donald L Heflin said, “8,00,000 visas are projected to be issued in the next 12 months.. we opened a lot of slots for processing the visas.. we think of eventually meeting the demand of H and L visas.”

Asked about the total number of visas issued before the outbreak of Covid-19, he said 1.2 million visas were issued.

He also expressed hope that the visa processing would reach pre-Covid-19 levels sometime in 2023 or 2024.

“Pre-Covid-19 1.2 million visas were issued. We hope to reach that level sometime in 2023-24..,” Heflin told PTI.

The consular offices were also ramping up staffing across India and the visa processing would be supported by the rise in headcount at these offices.

“.. Visa processing was done by 50 per cent of the staff (due to Covid-19).. we will be adding more employees to our offices..”

“We are opening a new big building in Hyderabad. We are adding more staff in New Delhi, Mumbai. Already there is 100 per cent staff in Kolkata,” he noted.

To a question on the consulate setting up a dedicated helpline to address queries raised by visa applicants, the Minister Counselor said all the consulates already have a dedicated phone number as well as an e-mail address which visa applicants can contact for assistance with their appointments.

Queried whether Indian visas were ‘put-on-hold’ due to Covid-19 pandemic, he said, ‘not that high (number of visas were put on hold).. but keep an eye as we are going to make more announcements on student visas in the coming weeks’.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor