According to the US Embassy, record visa applications were processed for Indians in 2023

In 2023, the US processed more visa applications than it did in any other year. Due to the busy holiday travel season, the embassy expects a steady spike in visa processing in the upcoming weeks.

"More visa applications were completed by our India team this month than in any other year of 2023. We'll be serving thousands of students, workers, tourists, and more in the coming weeks just in time for the busy holiday travel season. Safe travels to all of our applicants and congrats to the Consular Team,” said the US Embassy in India in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

In an effort to reduce the waiting time for Indian applicants, the US Ambassador to India, Mr. Eric Garcetti announced plans to expand the number of embassy employees and open new consulates, one of which would be in Ahmedabad.

For Indian professionals and students, the lengthy delays in the US Visa application procedure brought on by the large number of applications have been a challenge.

According to Mr. Eric Garcetti, the embassy was probably going to issue 10-15% more US visas this year than usual, with the number of visas being issued in India having climbed by one-third in recent weeks.

Notably, 2.8 lakh Indian students were enrolled in US universities in 2022-23—a record high that exceeded pre-pandemic levels. With more than 25% of the 1.2 million international students registered this year, Indian students made up the second-largest student enrollment, after Chinese students.

According to the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Institute of International Education (IIE) Open Doors 2023 report, 268,923 Indian students went to the US in 2022-23—a 35% year-over-year increase over the 199,182 students in 2021-22.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.