2-yr wait for US visa: Will get better, says EAM

September 29, 2022 12:07

EAM Dr S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has assured the Biden administration on Wednesday of all necessary cooperation to help it resolve the backlog of visa applications from Indians seeking to travel to the US.

He said that things will get better soon.

Visa applications from India require a wait-time of over two years just for getting an appointment, a US government website showed, while the timeframe is only two days for countries China.

There's an appointment wait-time of 833 days for applications from Delhi and 848 days from Mumbai for visitor visas, shows the US State Department's website.

This comes a day after Jaishankar in his meeting with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the delay of visa applications to which the top American diplomat said he is sensitive to the matter and had a plan to address it.

"But I again, feel this is an issue where obviously it's mainly for the US but we will be supportive and collaborative," Jaishankar told ANI in response to a question asked about people facing visa issues.

He further added, "To the people who are concerned about the visa issues, I would like to give the message that I understand their anxiety and the urgency and which is precisely the reason why I took up the matter," and suggested Blinken that India will help the US to deal with the situation in a better way.

During the press briefing in Washington, the external affairs minister raised concerns about families not being able to meet and students waiting for a long time and underlined it as a 'genuinely serious' problem.

"In India, I mean, there are families who are not able to meet their relatives there and people who can't keep their business appointments. There are students who are waiting for a long time. So, it's a really it's a genuinely serious problem of some magnitude."

"But I'm very confident, with the sincerity that Secretary Blinken showed and the seriousness with which I hope they would address this and with any support that we can provide, we hope that things will improve," the EAM added as he addressed the efforts of governments of both the countries during the press briefing.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Jolt to MVA as Cong leader quits campaigning over no Muslim LS candidate

In a letter to Kharge, Khan said he will not campaign for party candidates for the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha polls and is also resigning from the state Congress campaign committee.

NIA chargesheets 14th accused in 2022 Coimbatore car bomb case

Naseer and his associates had conspired to wage war against the government of India and also to kill Indians in order to destabilise the country and create communal disharmony, it said.

India's Biggest Bow Arch String Girder

Glimpses of India's biggest Bowstring/Bow Arch Sting Girder installed by the Hindustan Construction Company on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link at 3.25 am, Friday, April 26, 2024.

IPL PIX: Punjab Kings beat KKR in record chase

IMAGES from the Indian Premier League match played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings in Kolkata on Friday.

'Stats are going out of the window'

'Very pleasing. Most importantly the win, cricket has turned to baseball isn't it? We're delighted with the two points.'