Not only did the US handle more visas than ever before in 2023, but India also reduced the wait time for visiting visa appointments by 75%. With 1.4 million visas handled in 2023, the US embassy and consulates in India were able to accommodate the extraordinary requests across all visa classes. In 2023, the consular team continued their record-setting streak by issuing more visas to Indian students than any other country. The number of visas issued was over 140,000.
There was a 60% increase in applications compared to 2022 at the embassy. "One out of every ten US visa applicants around the world" are Indian, according to the US embassy.
Over 700,000 people have applied for visitor visas (B1/B2), which is the second-highest amount in the history of the US Mission. The US embassy and consulates were able to meet this demand by increasing permanent staff levels, working through a three-month personnel surge in Mumbai early in the year, and utilizing creative technical solutions," stated the US embassy.
The average appointment wait time for visitor visas has decreased from 1,000 days to only 250 days across the country as a result of process improvements and investments in manpower. The embassy further noted that wait times are extremely low across all other categories.
The Indian embassy emphasized that four cities—New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Mumbai—now rank among the world's top four centers for processing student visas.
More than 25% of the more than one million international students enrolled at American universities are from India, and the country's students have surpassed all others to become the biggest group of international graduate students, according to the embassy.
Over 380,000 employment visas were processed as a result of the consular team in India consolidating most petition-based visa processing in Chennai and Hyderabad to boost efficiency, since employment visas continue to be a high priority for Indians.
Over 31,000 immigrant visa cases that had been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak were reportedly dropped from the line by the consulate general in Mumbai, according to the embassy.
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