On 21st January 2023, The US Consulate in Hyderabad paved consular operations to accommodate applicants seeking in-person visa interviews. On selected Saturdays of upcoming months it will continue to open additional slots for appointments<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Embassy at New Delhi and as well as at all other consulates in the country these operations were opened. Main motive of this operation is to reduce wait time for first-time visa applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stated in the press release \u2018These additional interview days are just one component of a multi-pronged initiative to address the backlog in visa processing caused by COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US Department of State has carried out remote processing of interview waiver cases for applicants with previous US visas. Good amount of temporary consular officers from Washington and other embassies will arrive in India between January-March 2023 to increase processing capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To quicken the visa allocation and to create more slots, more appointments of consular officers will take place and they will be permanently assigned to the Embassy and Consulates. By summer 2023, there is the target to get full staffing in the U.S. Mission in India and by this experiment processing visas is expected at levels from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the travel restrictions were lifted, the U.S. Mission to India has made it a priority to facilitate legitimate travel and decided over 8 lakh non-immigrant visas in 2022. It also includes a record number of both student and employment visas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 2.5 lakh additional B1\/B2 appointments were released in India and the Consulate General, Mumbai. They also extended its weekday operating hours to make space for additional appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n