US embassy changes visa application system for summer 2022 intakes
The US Embassy in India has changed the visa application system for students applying in the summer of 2022. The measures are expected to address the problem of non-student agents blocking visa interview slots and the resulting shortage of interview appointments for “real students”.
The embassy currently issues two-thirds of the number of visas issued in pre-pandemic times; it hopes to return to full capacity by 2023.
“Last year we faced two major problems; first because of the huge number of student visa applicants from India, our global computer system crashed. Second, a large number of student visa interview slots were bought up by people who were not actual applicants. Also, while in the early part of the season we had good and sincere students applying for visas, in the later part, last summer, many applicants we interviewed came to us for a second or third time because a student visa had been previously denied. . That was taking places from good students,” said Donald L Heflin, consular minister at the US embassy in Delhi.
“We hope these measures will address both the problems of not having interview slots available to good and genuine students and the blocking of slots by non-student agents who fail to show up for the interview,” Heflin added. †
The embassy has also made software changes to ensure that aspirants who have been denied a visa in the summer-spring of 2022 will no longer be allowed to book interview slots this year. In addition, students are advised to regularly visit the US Embassy website to schedule interview appointments after receiving admission letters from US universities.
The embassy also plans to begin issuing B1-B2 visitor visas in September this year so that parents of Indian students can accompany their children at the start of the sessions in the fall of 2022. Those who have never been before however, those who have had a visitor visa will not be admitted. to travel.
The US embassy reopened the visa interview slots in June 2021.
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