There’s some good news for those facing a year or more delays in getting US visas. The option of going to another country for a visa interview has emerged a faster option for many people. In fact, in the first few months of this year; already over 50,000 Indians have taken advantage of this option to get their visas on a fast track. “We’re fine with Indians travelling to third countries when applying for visa interviews. But this will have to be a country where you can go visa free or the government of that country will give you a visa,” Donald L Heflin, minister-counselor for consular affairs at the Embassy of the US in New Delhi, told Times of India in an exclusive interview. He added that the facility of applying at third countries was particularly popular among Indian applicants of business visas in the categories of B-1; H-1B and L-1.
Significantly, the US Embassy and consulates in India had issued a record number of 1,25,000 student visas last year. “We hope to do similar numbers this year. But how strong the demand for student visas will be, is beyond our control. It depends on several factors including how early American universities and colleges get their admission forms out and how good a job students are doing in in presenting their case,” Heflin said.
On the issue of students whose visas were rejected and who were not able to schedule second or third visa interviews and were facing backlogs; Heflin said that the same policy will be followed this year as last time. “The second interview opportunity for such applicants, whose student visa was rejected one time, will be at the end of the season after others. The first timers, or ‘freshers’ as they are called in India, will get the opportunity first and we will then go to people who were turned down before,” the minister-counselor said. He added that despite all incorrect information that may have been shared on this issue from different unofficial sources, the best chance for students to get a visa approved is the first chance and the second best is the second chance. “Everyone has one chance, but after that it goes down. Applications for student visas three, four or five times don’t go too well,” he said.
The huge rush for US student visas later this year is, however, not likely to have an impact on other categories such as first time B-1 and B-2 tourist and visitor visas; for which applicants are currently facing long delays. “We will make sure we do other categories in fairly large numbers even when there is a high demand for student visas. We are also getting assistance from Washington, which is very helpful; and the impact of doing student visas will not be very noticeable on other categories,” he said.