US Targets 14% Increase in Indian visas

The American immigration authorities plan to issue 14 percent more visas to the Indians every year till 2020 in a bid to improve to business and political ties between the two nations and get more tourists from India.

According to the official stats, the US embassy in India processed almost 700, 000 visa application during 2011. It targets to raise this figure up to 2.1 million by the next eight years.

Though this policy is applicable to all visa categories but the visitor visa segment will get more share.

The motive behind formation of this strategy to perk up the recession-hit US economy by attracting more visitors and businessmen from India which homes to more than 1 billion population.

Currently, a number of Indian entrepreneurs are operating successfully in America. These business ventures not only provide jobs to the locals but also support to the host nation’s economy through taxes. As a whole, at least 3 million Indians are residing on the US soil.

In a bid to speed up and simplify the visa issuance process, the US Consulate General in India has increased its staff by 60 percent and opened two new branches of its office in Mumbai and Hyderabad. Apart from this, it has also taken some innovative measures to provide the applicants with every sort of facilities.

According to the US immigration officials, almost 97 percent of the Indians’ visa applications are processed in less than 24 hours and the visa appointment time is maximum 10 days.

This move is a backdrop of the US president Barak Obama’s recently-enforced policy of growing the national economy through overseas talent. The American think tanks strongly believe that the foreigners can play a key role in taking the Wall Street out of the crises it is facing currently.

Tags: India, Student Visa, Study visa, Tourism, US, USA, USA Visit Visa