According to a statement issued by US Embassy on Monday, over 55,000 Indian students and exchange visitors to the US have been given student visas this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the highest number ever.
The statement read, “more than 55,000 students and exchange visitors are boarding planes to study in the United States, and more students are being approved every day.”
Ambassador Atul Keshap, the Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi said studying in the US was a unique and a life changing experience for Indian students.
“Indian students also enrich US society, achieve high levels of academic success, and deepen the bonds of friendship between our countries,” he said.
Typically starting in May, the second wave of COVID-19 led to a two-month delay in starting the student visa season, the consular teams were able to process more visas this year than ever before, the statement said.
The statement read, “In July, as soon as conditions allowed for the resumption of visa services without endangering applicants’ health and safety, consular teams worked not only to match, but surpass, their pre-COVID workload. The U.S. Embassy and Consulates opened additional hours for visa appointments and made every possible effort to ensure timely arrival for academic programmes for as many students as possible. Ultimately, these efforts paid off, as more students than ever before received visas to study in the United States.”
