The US issued 1.25 lakh student visas to Indians in 2022 post the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the highest for foreign students of a country.
Consul General at the US Consulate General Mumbai Mike Hankey said on his visit to Vadodara that the US Embassies worked hard to reduce the wait time for Indian visa applicants from 1,000 to 500 days post-Covid19, and is looking at “permanently increasing staff” by mid-2023 to process visa applications faster.
Hankey said that since India was the “number one country” sending students to the US, the Embassy was making all efforts to ensure a minimum wait time for visa applicants for student, work, and medical visas.
The US is set to open a state-of-the-art and expanded 53-window embassy in Hyderabad, which will be the biggest consular section in Asia, Hankey said.
On his visit to Vadodara, Hankey also met with officials of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, which had successfully listed a five-year Rs 100 crore municipal bond at the BSE on March 23, 2022, with the guidance of the US Treasury to be used for 14 projects under AMRUT scheme. Hankey described the US collaboration with civic bodies in India as a step towards achieving “shared goals”.
Regarding the US stand on a BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots, which has been at the centre of a controversy in India, Hankey said, “It is the BBC that would know what the documentary contains… But, the US focus with our friends across the world is on the freedom of expression and freedom of religion.”
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