US issued 140K visas to Indian students in 2022

As a part of the Biden administration’s initiative to strengthen people to-people connections with India, the United States issued over 140,000 visas to Indian students last year and is implementing various measures to shorten the wait period for visa appointments.

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In a media interview, Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, highlighted that US missions in India operated six to seven days a week to ensure timely student interviews before the commencement of their classes. She emphasized that this year, there has been a significant focus on addressing the demand originating from India.

“We are really proud of what we have done in India this year. I think for the first time in history, we set a goal to issue one million visas in India and not only did we accomplish that, but it was done several months in advance. So, the number will go way beyond that. “There are record-setting numbers this year for workers, crew members and students applying in India to come to the United States,” she added. Stufft further said, “We specifically made sure that we saw the students who were applying coming out of India. India is now the largest source country for foreign students in the United States, as well as many other visa categories. That’s a very important one for us. We have also had a lot of cases where the interview was waived, so no interview for Indian travellers who have previously travelled and are now going back to the US.”