Students, workers priority in US goal to issue over million visas from India in 2023

New Delhi: The United States administration will be prioritising student and worker visas as the nation aims to issue over a million visas in 2023. 

A senior official who talked to PTI further assured that the Biden admin is committed to processing all the student visas for the Fall intake 2023. 

Apart from processing student visas, the US is also focusing on work visas, including H-1B and L visas from India, which are typically issued in favour of IT professionals from the country. 

"We've also been prioritising work visas: H-1B's and L visas. Wait times at some of our consular sections in India, for these visas are now below 60 days. We will continue to make sure that we prioritise visas for workers, as this is vital for both the American and the Indian economy," US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu stated to PTI in an interview. 

Though the US administration is working on fast-tracking visa applications, a recent increase in non-immigrant visa fees raised some questions. 

“Effective May 30, 2023, the fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2), and other non-petition based NIVs such as student and exchange visitor visas, will increase from $160 to $185,” said a statement by the US State Department. 

According to a release by the Department, the increase is based on an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) methodology used to calculate the cost of providing consular visas, including for visas.

During a recent visit to Aurangabad, US Consul General in Mumbai Mike Hankey informed reporters that the country is looking at increasing visa appointments by 30 percent in 2023.