The US Embassy in India is now taking visa appointments for students who need to be at campuses by mid-August. The interview slots are now open for students having I-20 who need to apply for visa categories F, M and J. Consulates will be taking interviews after August 14, the embassy tweeted.
Because of the Covid-19 situation, the US embassy opened visa interviews from June 14 onward for students who had received their I-20 documents and were waiting for interviews. This year, the embassy hopes to issue more student visas than a record 62,000 issued last year to students who joined US universities in the autumn of 2021.
“If you don’t get an appointment in this tranche, don’t panic. We will be focusing on students for the months of June, July and August and will open slots for the rest of July and the first half of August later,” the embassy announced last month.
The embassy also relaxed its earlier stance of not granting visas to applicants rejected earlier in a big relief for students.
“If you have a prior refusal, watch for open appointments in the second half of August when you’ll have a second chance at the interview,” the announcement added.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday called the embassies and missions of eight countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany and asked them to “fast track the visa process” owing to delays faced by students.
“Senior MEA officials dealing with Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, UK & USA had constructive discussions with corresponding heads of missions/ senior diplomats of these countries about streamlining student visas to Indian nationals,” the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, tweeted.
Read/Add Comments