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Business News/ News / India/  US visa appointment: This Indian city steals the show with least number of waiting days
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US visa appointment: This Indian city steals the show with least number of waiting days

The waiting period for US Student/Exchange Visitor Visas in the city now stands at just 29 days.

For Indian visitors to the US, the waiting period for visa appointments has surpassed two years. (Image for representation)Premium
For Indian visitors to the US, the waiting period for visa appointments has surpassed two years. (Image for representation)

In India, the waiting period for appointments to apply for US visas has surpassed two years. The appointment wait time for Delhi is 833 days while the wait period for Mumbai is 848 days. While there is frustration and disappointment about the massive delay, Chennai seems to be enjoying a fair advantage. The waiting period for Student/Exchange Visitor Visas in the city now stands at just 29 days.

Also Read: US visa appointments in India now open for all categories but…

To give some context, the waiting period for the same category is over 400 days in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. While people wonder why such a huge difference, some have started getting curious if Chennai has the least number of applicants who want to study in the US. Sumeet Jain, Co-founder at Yocket, spoke to Mint and clarified the confusion.

The visa appointment time in various Indian cities as of September 30.
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The visa appointment time in various Indian cities as of September 30. (Sounak Mukhopadhyay)

Also Read: US to solve visa backlog for Indians in the next few months

“No, it doesn't mean that Chennai has fewer applicants than all the others just based on this. These are just placeholder dates. When the slots open up, we will see the appointments much sooner than this," Jain said.

Ajay Sharma, Founder and President – Abhinav Immigration Services, said, "The visa appointment waiting time depends on the staff present at the consulate and the available slots. US immigration authorities are struggling with granting Non-immigrant visa and student visa to Indians students which led to procedural delays in many cities."

Also Read: US tourist visa waiting period goes over 2 years for India

According to Jain, if your nearest city - be it Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai or Hyderabad - has a much longer waiting period, you may apply in Chennai instead. There is no rule that bars Indian students from applying from any particular city as they are allowed to apply from any consulate in the country.

Also Read: US explains why visa waiting time for New Delhi is 2 years, 2 days for Beijing

Meanwhile, Don Heflin - US Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs - explained the reason behind such a long waiting time. He blamed it on the low number of staff at the visa centres. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and for a while after, they only had about 50% staff in the visa consulates. However, as per Heflin, the good news is the recovery from the pandemic is strong and the staffing problem is being handled.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sounak Mukhopadhyay
Sounak Mukhopadhyay, who also goes by the name Sounak Mukherjee, has been producing digital news since 2012. He's worked for the International Business Times, The Inquisitr, and Moneycontrol in the past. He's also contributed to Free Press Journal and TheRichest with feature articles. He covers news for a wide range of subjects including business, finance, economy, politics and sports. Before working with digital news publications, he worked as a freelance content writer.
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Published: 30 Sep 2022, 08:20 AM IST
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