Despite securing admission in at least four universities in America, Himesh Patel from Ahmedabad had lost hope of making it to the country after his visa application was rejected at least thrice since September 2022.
However, this year, due to the timely availability of student visa slots, his perseverance paid off. He finally got his visa in the fourth attempt after struggling for two years for the same.
But not everyone is lucky. Rajat Bhatt is among scores of students from a local institution in the city who are not getting visa appointments since last November, despite each paying up around Rs 8 lakh as visitor visa fee.
The group was supposed to go to the US on a study tour. Despite everyone paying the fee, it did not show up in the American embassy’s system, preventing them from getting visa appointments. Their efforts to get a refund or priority slot were in vain.
In a strange trend this year, students looking to study in the US are finding visa appointments easily, but visitors and businessmen are struggling to get one.
The success rate of student visas this year is remarkably high, leading to an increase in the number of applicants.
In contrast, business and visitor visa applicants are having to wait for up to 17 months, with the earliest appointments available not before December 2025.
Sachin Kadamb, an Ahmedabad-based MNC professional scheduled to leave for the US this November for work says his important work has got stalled due to unavailability of visa appointment slot. “I had to go to America last year as well. I had paid around Rs 13,000 as visa fees in March 2023, but I could not get an appointment. I had to pay the fees this March, as the previous application was over. My work has been stalled due to the delay,” he said.
Visa website problems over the past fortnight have compounded the problems. Applicants, despite paying the fees, are not able to access the appointment selection page. This has halted the visa application process for business, visitor and tourist visas.
Visa appointment problems have halved the number of travellers from Gujarat to the US in the last two years. Industry estimates show that about 2 lakh people from Gujarat travel to the US every year.
During his visit to Ahmedabad in May last year, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti had assured that student visa applications would be processed promptly as new slots open up. Visa consultants have confirmed a significant improvement.
About 90% of students who applied have got their visas, which is the result of the expedited process. Unlike previous years, students are receiving visa appointments within 45 days of receiving their I-20.
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