US Consulate To Process One Lakh Visa Applications Per Month From July 2023

Don Heflin, Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs while speaking to CNBC TV 18 said that they have opened up 1 lakh drop box appointments for H-1B visas and 26,000 slots are still open.

The Minister Counselor said that they have been able to reduce the waiting period for the H-1B, B1-B2 Drop Box cases to nine months. He said that they were in the process of bringing the waiting time for the H-1B cases from 9 to 5 months by the month of May 2023 and bring it down further.

He also assured that US Consulate would be able to process one lakh visa applications per month from July 2023.

Don Heflin said that the Student, H-1B & L visa & B1/B2 visas are a priority. 1,28,000 applicants are in the queue for H-1B DropBox applications.

With the number of Indian students studying in America rising by 19% in 2021-22, according to a report by the Open Doors Report, an annual survey on international students released by the Institute of International Education the US government issued a record 82,000 visas to Indian students in the months of June, July and August this year. In total, the US Consulate has issued around 100,000 student visas this calendar year in India.

Meanwhile, the US consulate which is being set up in Hyderabad financial district is likely to open in January 2023. The Hyderabad Consular District covers three states Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha. The new office is constructed on a 12.2-acre site and reports suggest that the US has invested $297 million, and will have 55 visa processing windows. 

A search on the US State Department website shows that the waiting period for visa interviews is 961 days as of today and for Hyderabad, it's 994 days.

Also Read: Hyderabad: US Consulate to Begin New Chapter from Financial District Office Soon