Hyderabad: The United States is likely to remove the mandatory US student visa interview requirement for certain categories of applicants. A few other categories of visas are also likely to be exempted from in-person interview requirement.
As per a senior official from US Embassy in India, a person who has already obtained any type of US visa will become eligible for a visa interview waiver for student, business, and tourist visas.
Apart from it, applicants whose B1 and B2 visas have expired in the last four years are also eligible for a visa waiver.
The move is intended to reduce the backlog of visa applications and address the issue of staff shortage. It is expected that visa processing will be back to pre-pandemic levels by the summer of 2023.
US student visa interview waiver
It is likely that US student visa interview will be waived for applicants who have traveled to the US on a tourist visa in the past.
The step will help many Indian students as they are the largest overseas group in the US. In 2022, around 82000 Indians received US student visas.
In the US, Indian students comprise nearly 20 percent of the international students in the country.
US takes other steps to reduce wait time
Apart from waiving the in-person interview requirement for categories of applicants for student and other visas, the US embassy is increasing staff and sending dropbox cases to other places to reduce the wait time.
As per the US Embassy official, the wait time has already been reduced from 450 days to around nine months.
In terms of the total number of US visas issued in a year, India ranks third. The first two spots on the list are occupied by Mexico and China. However, it is expected that India will move up to the second spot surpassing China in terms of the number of US visas.
US embassy and consulates in India
There are four US Consulates and one embassy in India. The US embassy is located in New Delhi whereas the consulates are located in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai.
Currently, the visa appointment wait time at embassy and consulates is as follows
Delhi
| Visa type | Appointment wait time (calendar days) |
| Interview Required Visitors | 925 |
| Interview Required Students/Exchange Visitors | 43 |
| Interview Required Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 317 |
| Interview Waiver Visitors | 291 |
| Interview Waiver Students/Exchange Visitors | 43 |
| Interview Waiver Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 305 |
Hyderabad
| Visa type | Appointment wait time (calendar days) |
| Interview Required Visitors | 787 |
| Interview Required Students/Exchange Visitors | 14 |
| Interview Required Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 350 |
| Interview Waiver Visitors | 206 |
| Interview Waiver Students/Exchange Visitors | 92 |
| Interview Waiver Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 325 |
Chennai
| Visa type | Appointment wait time (calendar days) |
| Interview Required Visitors | 912 |
| Interview Required Students/Exchange Visitors | 42 |
| Interview Required Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 378 |
| Interview Waiver Visitors | 120 |
| Interview Waiver Students/Exchange Visitors | 10 |
| Interview Waiver Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 305 |
Kolkata
| Visa type | Appointment wait time (calendar days) |
| Interview Required Visitors | 812 |
| Interview Required Students/Exchange Visitors | 10 |
| Interview Required Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 310 |
| Interview Waiver Visitors | 177 |
| Interview Waiver Students/Exchange Visitors | 50 |
| Interview Waiver Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 304 |
Mumbai
| Visa type | Appointment wait time (calendar days) |
| Interview Required Visitors | 975 |
| Interview Required Students/Exchange Visitors | 42 |
| Interview Required Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 340 |
| Interview Waiver Visitors | 353 |
| Interview Waiver Students/Exchange Visitors | 92 |
| Interview Waiver Petition-Based Temporary Workers | 303 |
Real-time visa appointment wait time at the US embassy and consulates in India can be viewed on the official website of the US Department of State (click here).
