Surge in Visas for Indians

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India announced on January 29, 2024, that it had processed a record-breaking 1.4 million U.S. visas in India in 2023. This brought down the visitor visa appointment wait times at the Embassy and the various Consulates in India by 75%. 

With an unprecedented demand for visas of all classes post-pandemic, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates received a 60% increase in applications in 2023 over the previous year, making Indians one-tenth of all visa applicants in the world. Visitor visa (B1/B2) applications, over 700,000 of them, have grown to represent the second-highest number of applications in the history of the U.S. Mission.  

Visitor visa wait times reduced

Between 2022 and 2023, visitor visa applicants to the U.S. experienced extremely long wait times of an average of over 1,000 days across the country because of a post-pandemic surge in demand. The U.S. Embassy and Consulates met this demand through additional staffing as well as technical process improvements bringing down the appointment wait time for visitor visas to an average of 250 days.  

India tops in student visas for third year in a row

In 2023, the U.S. consular team in India also issued over 140,000 student visas, the highest in the world for the third year in a row. Indians now make up the largest foreign student body – more than a quarter of the over one million foreign students – studying in the United States. Individually, the cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai are also now the top four U.S. student visa processing posts in the world. 

H1B holders can now renew their visas in the US

In 2024, a pilot program will allow eligible H1B holders to renew their visas in the United States, further streamlining the process for this group. Over 380,000 employment visas for Indians and their family members were processed in 2023. 

Immigrant visas

The backlog of over 31,000 immigrant visa cases delayed by the pandemic was processed at the Mumbai consulate, taking wait times for appointments back to the standing pre-pandemic patterns. 

Increased visa processing capacity

In March 2023, the US Mission opened a 340 million dollar facility in Hyderabad to support the surge in demands and also announced two upcoming consulates in Ahmedabad and Bangalore.  

For more information, visit: https://in.usembassy.gov/u-s-sets-visa-records-in-india-in-2023-through-staffing-increases-innovations-and-increased-efficiency/