For 4th year, US issues record student visas to Indians

This year, the US has again granted a record number of student visas to India. Although the precise figure is yet unknown, it exceeds the more than 1.4 lakh student visas that were granted last year, which at the time was the most for any nation in the world.

In the meantime, the US Embassy announced on Monday that it “has opened an additional 250,000 visa appointments for Indian travellers,” which includes vacationers, students, and skilled labourers.

It stated that the new slots will help hundreds of thousands of Indian applicants take timely interviews, facilitating travel.

The embassy added that the US mission to India has already surpassed 10 lakh non-immigrant visa applications for the second consecutive year.

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In a statement on Monday, the US Embassy said that during the student visa season in the summer of 2024, they processed record numbers, and all first-time student applicants were able to obtain an appointment at one of their five consular sections around India.

Eric Garcetti, the US Ambassador to India, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden set an ambitious goal to improve and expedite the visa process and he was proud that they have delivered on that promise.

He added that their consular teams at the embassy and four consulates work tirelessly to ensure that they can meet the surging demand.

In 2023, for the third consecutive year, the US consular office in India issued over 1.4 lakh student visas in 2023, more than in any other nation in the globe.

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In a statement this January, the embassy said that Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai are currently the top four global hubs for the processing of student visas, when considered separately.

Owing to these explosive growth rates, Indian students now account for the greatest proportion of foreign graduate students in the country, accounting for almost 25% of the more than one million international students studying here, the embassy added.