INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: The wait for a US visa may soon be over, although people still have to go the distance
Indians seeking B1 and B2 (business and tourist) visas, but not eligible for interview waiver like first-time applicants and whose visas
expired more than four years ago, can apply at some select American embassies abroad to cut the long appointment wait period in
India.Bangkok, for instance, is among them
The wait period in Bangkok for B1/B2 interview is just 14 days, as opposed to anywhere between 589 days in Kolkata and 638 in Mumbai, as of
mission in Delhi said Friday.Indians needing to travel to the US urgently have already been going to a third country to get an appointment
include Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam
cut the visa interview wait that had reached almost 1,000 days for B1/B2 cases late last year.More Indian visa applicants were made eligible
These steps are now paying off with the wait period significantly dropping for interview required B1/B2 applicants to 638 in Mumbai; 617 in
Covid saw foreign consulates across the world send their staff back home and retain only a skeletal workforce
the issue of this huge backlog with US secretary of state Antony Blinken last September.
