As India flags visa delay issues, US assures action on ‘backlog of applications’ in few months
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and assured that the US is “building back” on the backlog of visa applications from Indian nationals and said the Biden administration has a plan that will play out in the coming months.
S Jaishankar discussed challenges that Indians have been facing in receiving visas to work and live in the United States.
“On mobility, specifically visas, this is particularly crucial, given its centrality to education, business, technology, and family reunions,” Jaishankar said in a joint press briefing with Blinken on Tuesday.
Blinken said in a press briefing, “We had constraints from Covid about the number of people we could have in our embassies at any one time, etc. We are now building back very determined really from that surging resources. We have a plan when it comes to India to address the backlog of visas that have built up I think you`ll see that play out in the coming months.”
The remarks came as he met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Washington. Jaishankar flagged concerns and challenges that Indians have been facing in receiving visas to work and live in the United States.
“There have been some challenges of late, and I flagged it to Secretary Blinken and his team, and I have every confidence that they will look at some of these problems seriously and positively,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks.
US visa applicants in India have seen wait times for an appointment extending to over a year in some instances.
The U.S. Embassy in India said on Tuesday that while visa appointments were open for all categories, wait times remained “significantly” high due to high demand.
The visa backlog has led to some families being separated for extended periods of time, with some taking to social media to lament their situation.
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