Wait time for US visitor's visa interview in India cut by 60 pc this year, says official
Washington (PTI): The wait time for a US visitor's visa interview in India has been reduced by 60 per cent this year, a senior official has said, attributing it to several steps the United States has taken, including increasing the number of officials and opening other diplomatic missions to process these applications.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services Julie Stufft told PTI in an interview that the goal of the State Department is to get to 1 million visas issued this year, which would be above the pre-pandemic number.
"We have increased the number of officers going to India. We have set up arrangements, which is unprecedented, with other embassies in the world like Bangkok to take Indians who are seeking visas. We are opening a new consulate in Hyderabad... and we're just focused on making sure that we can bring the wait time down in India," she said.
Stufft noted that Frankfurt, London and Abu Dhabi have taken a lot of Indian citizens who are seeking visas.
"We have asked these missions to take Indians as if they were from their own host country. Especially in places like Bangkok where there is no visa required for Indians and it is a relatively short flight.
"Obviously this is not ideal. We want Indians to be able to apply in India, and that's where we'll get to," she said.
More than 100 US diplomatic missions have been issuing visas to Indians.
"As a result of all of these efforts, the visitor visa interview wait time has decreased by 60 per cent just in the last couple of months. This is a result of all the work that we've put into making sure that Indians who wish to travel to the US can do so."
Stufft said that currently, "visa production in India is 40 per cent higher than it was before the pandemic" and asserted that the State Department was working hard to bring down the wait time.
In February the US had the highest on-record production of visas in India.
"Our team there is working very hard and they're well on their way to accomplishing the 1 million visa goal," Stufft said.
In addition to the visitor's visa, the State Department official said they are working on other types of visas including, student visas.
"Because we have been able to expand interview waivers, meaning fewer Indians need to come to the embassy or consulate for an interview, we can process that without seeing the applicant. That has helped us tremendously because we have had consular officers in dozens of countries who are actually remotely processing these Indian visas," Stufft said.
This has made it possible for people who don't need an interview, those who have travelled to the US before, to get their visa in a record time of less than two weeks, she said.
"It really is a global effort. Because we have such strong ties with India and the relationship between our two countries means that the categories of visas are the highest in India.. students, tech workers, and crew members. It's a high cultural, educational and work relationship between our countries," Stufft said.
She said anyone who has to travel to the US urgently for any sort of humanitarian matter, those cases will be expedited.
"But make your appointment, find the place that you can go in India or outside of India where it's possible. And bear with us as we bring these wait times down. We're very excited to be hitting records every month with the number of visas that we're issuing in India," she said.
Stufft also said that State Department is very excited about launching a pilot project on domestic renewal of visas soon.
Under this, holders of certain work visa categories who are living in the United States can apply for visa renewal without leaving the United States.
"What this means in particular for a large number of tech workers from India is that people would not have to go back to India or another post in the world to apply for their visa," Stufft said.
"That's very exciting for all of us. It will take time. We're building up that operation from zero. That's something that we have not done for several decades at this point. This will have big benefits for Indians who are living and working in America," she added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sensex, Nifty end higher after volatile trade as India avenges Pahalgam attack
Mumbai, May 7 (PTI): Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher in a volatile session on Wednesday as India launched missile strikes on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
After gyrating between gains and losses during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 105.71 points or 0.13 per cent higher at 80,746.78. The index opened sharply down by 692 points and fell further to hit a day's low of 79,937.48 in early trade.
However, buying in private banks and select auto shares such as Tata Motors helped the barometer recover most of the losses and hit a high of 80,844.63 later.
The 50-issue Nifty of NSE advanced by 34.80 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 24,414.40. Nifty moved between a high of 24,449.60 and a low of 24,220 during the session.
Broader markets also recouped intraday losses and closed higher by more than a per cent. Sectoral indices closed mixed as auto, realty, and metal sectors advanced while pharma and FMCG ended in the red.
"Geopolitical tensions, following India’s military response to a terrorist attack, triggered a gap-down opening. However, a swift recovery helped the indices edge higher by the close," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke.
The military strikes were carried out under 'Operation Sindoor' two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam.
"Even as the country is in the middle of a military action against terrorist network across the border, markets witnessed gyration during intra-day trade but eventually managed to shrug off the uncertainty to end slightly higher. While the mood will be of caution due to Indo-Pak war tension, markets could witness choppy sessions with stock-specific activity over next few days," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
From the 30-share Sensex firms, Tata Motors jumped the most by 5.05 per cent as India and the UK sealed a trade deal to reduce duties on most traded goods. The trade deal will make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars, and other products to India.
Bajaj Finance, Eternal, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid were among the gainers.
Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, ITC, Nestle, Reliance Industries and HCL Tech were among the laggards.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,794.52 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
"Geopolitical tensions like the ongoing Indo-Pak standoff under 'Operation Sindoor' tend to cause immediate market volatility. While short-term caution is reasonable, history shows that Indian markets demonstrate strong resilience once clarity returns. Unless accompanied by broader economic or global shocks, Indo-Pak tensions have not had a lasting negative impact. Investors should focus on fundamentals, not fear," said Pankaj Singh, small case manager and Founder and Principle Researcher at SmartWealth.ai.
The BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.36 per cent and smallcap index climbed 1.16 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, auto rallied the most 1.74 per cent, followed by consumer discretionary (1.21 per cent), metal (1.19 per cent), realty (1.12 per cent), consumer durables (1.05 per cent), power (0.95 per cent) and financial services (0.94 per cent).
BSE FMCG and healthcare indices were the only laggards.
As many as 2,203 stocks advanced while 1,685 declined 158 remained unchanged on the BSE.
"Indian equity markets exhibited strong resilience amid recent Indo-Pak border tensions, the measured market response indicated that geopolitical risks were largely priced in and expectations of de-escalation is prevailing among investors. At the same time, the progress on the India–UK FTA further buoyed investor optimism, driving gains in key sectors such as textiles, automobiles, and information technology," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited said.
Globally, investor sentiment has improved as the United States and China signal a willingness to resume trade negotiations, Nair added.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in the positive territory, while Japan's Nikkei 225 ended lower.
Markets in Europe were quoting in the negative territory. US markets ended lower on Tuesday.
India and the UK on Tuesday sealed a landmark free trade agreement that will lower tariffs on 99 per cent Indian exports and will make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars, and other products to India besides boosting the overall trade basket.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.64 per cent to USD 62.55 a barrel.
Snapping its two days of gains, the BSE benchmark declined 155.77 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 80,641.07 on Tuesday. The Nifty dipped 81.55 points or 0.33 per cent to 24,379.60.
