The United States Embassy in India received its one millionth non-immigrant visa application of the year. This is an increase of 20% compared to the total handled in 2019.
According to the US Embassy and Consulates in India over 1.2 million Indians visited the USA last year, making it one of the most robust travel ties in the world.
"Indians now comprise over 10% of all visa applicants globally, including 20% of all student visa applicants and 65% of all H&L-category (work) visa applications. In a statement, the United States expressed its satisfaction with this expansion.
Eric Garcetti, the U.S. ambassador to India, was overjoyed to deliver the news, adding, "our partnership with India is one of the United States' most important bilateral relationships, and in fact one of the most important relationships in the world."
"The ties between our people are stronger than ever, and we will continue our record-setting volume of visa work in the coming months to give as many Indian applicants as possible the opportunity to travel to the United States and experience the U.S.-India friendship first hand" he added.
Ranju Singh and her husband received the one millionth visa on their way to see their son in the United States for college. As he handed them their visas, Garcetti congratulated them and spoke briefly with them.
Let's get visas processed more quickly, thus the Ministry of External Affairs authorized new visa processing bodies in cities like Hyderabad. Garcetti stated, "We changed our systems, we worked smarter, we worked harder, and we got a million visa applications..." He cited comments made by Prime Minister Modi and Vice President Joe Biden.
To meet the ongoing demand for visas, Garcetti said his administration would continue to invest extensively in its operations in India.
The occasion was commemorated by the United States Embassy in India, which issued a statement on Twitter that said, "Mission to one million accomplished."
Thank you for applying and being a part of the one million-strong chapter in the United States and India's shared history. Your contributions, whether you're here for school, job, travel, or investment, are a significant part of what makes this partnership so amazing, Garcetti says in the video.
In light of this achievement, the Embassy has announced that it would issue a record number of visas to its citizens.
The Mission has hired additional people in the past year so that more visas can be processed. "The Mission has made significant capital improvements to existing facilities, including the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, and has inaugurated a new Consulate building in Hyderabad," the U.S. Embassy stated in a statement.
The statement also notes that the mission has introduced initiatives to boost efficiency, such as expanding the types of visas for which interviews are not required and allowing employees to participate to Indian visa processing from anywhere in the globe via remote work.
The US Embassy announced in a statement that beginning "early next year," they want to roll out a pilot scheme that would allow domestic visa renewal for qualified H&L-category employment visa applicants.
Comments