Indians seeking the B1 and B2 visas — meant for business and tourist purposes — can now apply their visas at some American embassies abroad to cut the wait period.
As the waiting period to get a US visa in India continues to remain over 500 days in most places, the US embassy has come up with a new initiative through which people could get appointments in a reasonable time period.
Indians seeking the B1 and B2 visas — meant for business and tourist purposes — can now apply their visas at some American embassies abroad to cut the wait period.
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The US Embassy informed that Bangkok is one such destination where Indians can apply for a B1/B2 visa and would get to the interview stage in just 14 days.
This is opposed to places in India where the wait is much longer. Mumbai has a wait period for 638 days, Kolkata 589 days, Delhi 596 days and Hyderabad 609 days.
Taking to Twitter, the US Embassy India said, “Do you have upcoming international travel? If so, you may be able to get a visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your destination. For example, @USEmbassyBKK has opened B1/B2 appointment capacity for Indians who will be in Thailand in the coming months.”
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This comes a few days after the US Embassy said that a US visa renewal can now happen through a dropbox.
Other new initiatives introduced by US Embassy for Indians
Amid visa delays especially for the states, the US Embassy launched a series of new initiatives last month.
➡️These include scheduling special interviews for first time applicants and increasing staff at consular offices to deal with increased footfall.
➡️The US Embassy in Delhi, and consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad will now conduct special Saturday interview days.
➡️The US implementing remote processing of interview waiver cases for applicants with previous US visas.
The US mission in India released more than 2,50,000 additional B1/B2 appointments. The new initiatives comes as the US Mission to India processed over 1 Lakh visa applications this January, the US Embassy in Delhi said.
The US Embassy is “putting every ounce of its energy” into reducing the lengthy visa wait times in India, a senior US visa officer told news agency PTI.
