New Delhi: India is top priority for Washington, a senior embassy official in India said Thursday mentioning that the country has made special arrangements to expedite visa applications for India.
In wake of the situation returning to normalcy after Covid, the official said the ‘US has made special arrangements to expedite visa applications for India’ and expressed hope that ‘by the summer of next year, India will overtake China to become the second largest US visa recipient.’
“We hope that by summer next year, likely by June or July, India will overtake China to become the second country after Mexico in obtaining US visas,” he said, as reported by news agency UNI.
The official also informed that there has been an uptick in the amount of visa applications.
“For various kinds of visas, we would not have much wait time. Each separate category has some wait time,” the official added.
“India is top priority for Washington. Students, high-tech workers, tourists, and businessmen make up a large portion of our population,” the official said.
In response to a question, he said that India will be issued at least 10 per cent more visas next year as compared to the pre-Covid times.
The US Mission in India, according to a previous statement issued by the embassy, has issued a record-breaking 82,000 student visas so far in 2022, higher than any other country.
