US Embassy in India releases over 1 lakh appointments for H, L visas

US Secretary of State has extended consular officers' current ability to waive the in-person interview

New Delhi: The US embassy in India has released over one lakh appointments for H and L work visa categories and for their family members.

“In response to the high demand for employment-based visas, the US Mission to India recently released over 100,000 appointments for H&L workers and their families,” the US embassy in India tweeted.

This was among the key assurances that the US mission has given after Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had raised the visa delay issue with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month.

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“Thousands of applicants have already booked their appointments and the wait time for both interview waiver and first-time appointments has been cut in half throughout Mission India. This bulk appointment opening reflects our ongoing commitment to H&L workers,” the embassy added in a tweet.

The US embassy further said in the first nine months of 2022, the US Mission had already processed over 160,000 H and L visas and it will continue to prioritize H and L workers for visa appointments as resources allow.

Consular officers are now temporarily authorized, through December 31, 2022, to waive in-person interviews for certain individual petition-based non-immigrant work visas and their qualifying derivatives in the following categories: Persons in Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas), Trainee or Special Education Visitors (H-3 visas), Intracompany Transferees (L visas), Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement (O visas), Athletes, Artists, and Entertainers (P visas), and Participants in International Cultural Exchange Programs (Q visas), added a US State Department release.

Additionally, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has extended consular officers’ current ability to waive the in-person interview, through December 31, 2022, for the following other categories of non-immigrant visas: Temporary Agricultural and Non-agricultural Workers (H-2 visas), Students (F and M visas), and Student Exchange Visitors (Academic J visas).

“We recognize the many contributions of international visitors to our communities and campuses. Lastly, the authorization to waive the in-person interview for applicants renewing a visa in the same visa class within 48 months of the prior visa’s expiration has been extended indefinitely,” added to the release.

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